arXiv:2602.17045cs.CL2026-02被引 1

LLMs persuade effectively without understanding others' minds,靠的是修辞而非心理推理。

Large Language Models Persuade Without Planning Theory of Mind

  • 设计互动说服任务,测试模型对目标认知与动机状态的把握能力。
  • 当目标信息隐藏时,LLMs表现低于随机水平,无法完成多步心理推演。
  • 在真实人类角色实验中,LLMs persuasion效果优于人类,依赖语言策略而非共情。

现有研究多用静态问答评估大语言模型(LLMs)的理论心智(ToM)能力,但理论指出第一人称互动才是关键,预测性任务可能失效。本文提出新型交互式说服任务:让代理通过战略性披露信息,引导目标从三个政策提案中选择。成功依赖于对目标知识状态(知晓哪些政策)和动机状态(偏好何种结果)的敏感度。实验1中,参与者说服一个仅做理性推断的机器人,当信息透明时LLMs表现优异,但在信息隐藏时表现低于随机水平,说明其难以进行多步心理推演;人类在两种条件下均表现尚可,体现规划能力。实验2和3中,目标为真人扮演或真实角色,无论条件如何,LLMs均显著优于人类说服者。结果表明,有效说服可不依赖显式心智推理(如修辞策略即可),且LLMs擅长此类影响。研究警示勿将人类心智类比赋予LLMs,同时揭示其影响人类信念与行为的巨大潜力。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

A growing body of work attempts to evaluate the theory of mind (ToM) abilities of humans and large language models (LLMs) using static, non-interactive question-and-answer benchmarks. However, theoretical work in the field suggests that first-personal interaction is a crucial part of ToM and that such predictive, spectatorial tasks may fail to evaluate it. We address this gap with a novel ToM task that requires an agent to persuade a target to choose one of three policy proposals by strategically revealing information. Success depends on a persuader's sensitivity to a given target's knowledge states (what the target knows about the policies) and motivational states (how much the target values different outcomes). We varied whether these states were Revealed to persuaders or Hidden, in which case persuaders had to inquire about or infer them. In Experiment 1, participants persuaded a bot programmed to make only rational inferences. LLMs excelled in the Revealed condition but performed below chance in the Hidden condition, suggesting difficulty with the multi-step planning required to elicit and use mental state information. Humans performed moderately well in both conditions, indicating an ability to engage such planning. In Experiment 2, where a human target role-played the bot, and in Experiment 3, where we measured whether human targets' real beliefs changed, LLMs outperformed human persuaders across all conditions. These results suggest that effective persuasion can occur without explicit ToM reasoning (e.g., through rhetorical strategies) and that LLMs excel at this form of persuasion. Overall, our results caution against attributing human-like ToM to LLMs while highlighting LLMs' potential to influence people's beliefs and behavior.

大模型心理建模说服力交互评估

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