大模型虽共享表征,却在推理上分歧显著,揭示了表征相似不等于理解一致。
Convergence Without Understanding: When Language Models Agree on Representations but Disagree on Reasoning

- 比较16个模型在800道题上的表征相似性,按难度、计算阶段和因果相关性分层分析。
- 模型在共同失败的难题上表征更相似(CKA=0.897),优于成功解题时的相似度(CKA=0.830)。
- 表征可迁移但影响预测微弱,说明共享表征未必来自共享推理逻辑,适合模型集成与可解释性研究。
在800个涵盖数学、科学、常识和真实性的问题上,评估了来自8个模型家族(参数量1.5B至72B)共16个大语言模型的表征相似性,按问题难度、计算阶段和因果相关性分层。结果发现三类分离现象:难度反转,模型在集体失败的问题上表征更相似(中心核对齐[CKA]=0.897),高于在成功解题时的相似度(CKA=0.830);代际差距,决策前表征高度对齐(CKA=0.875),而决策后则大幅偏离(CKA=0.274);附带正确性,跨模型可解码共享信息(转移准确率66%),但其对预测的影响极小(消融实验中翻转率仅1.5%至5.5%)。表明表征收敛反映的是输入处理约束,而非共享推理策略,对集成设计、可解释性迁移及模型相似性评估具有直接意义。代码已开源。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Large language models trained under diverse objectives and architectures have been shown to develop increasingly similar internal representations, an observation formalized as the Platonic Representation Hypothesis. Whether this representational convergence extends to the reasoning processes that operate over shared representations remains untested. We evaluate representational similarity across 16 language models from 8 families (1.5B to 72B parameters) on 800 reasoning problems spanning mathematics, science, commonsense, and truthfulness, stratifying by problem difficulty, computational stage, and causal relevance. Our analysis reveals three dissociations: a difficulty inversion, where models converge more on problems they collectively fail (Centered Kernel Alignment [CKA] = 0.897) than on those they solve (CKA = 0.830); a generation gap, where pre-decision representations align (CKA = 0.875) while post-decision representations diverge (CKA = 0.274); and epiphenomenal correctness, where shared information is decodable across models (66% transfer accuracy) but exerts minimal causal influence on predictions (1.5% to 5.5% flip rate across ablation protocols). These results indicate that representational convergence in language models reflects shared input processing constraints rather than shared reasoning strategies, with direct implications for ensemble design, interpretability transfer, and evaluations of model similarity. Code is available at https://github.com/Usama1002/convergence-without-understanding.
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