arXiv:2605.31404cs.CLcs.AI2026-05

揭示大模型导航中语言偏见:拓扑信息是关键,语义错误会致命。

The Sword, Shield, and Achilles' Heel: Characterizing the Linguistic Inductive Bias of Large Language Models for Spatial Reasoning in Navigation Planning

论文配图:The Sword, Shield, and Achilles' Heel: Characterizing the Linguistic Inductive Bias of Large Language Models for Spatial Reasoning in Navigation Planning
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 设计双干预框架,分离语言结构与空间线索,分析语言对导航的影响。
  • 发现拓扑信息增强规划能力,语义错误会系统性破坏路径决策。
  • 提示开发者重视拓扑完整性与语义准确性,避免盲目压缩文本表示。

基于大语言模型(LLM)的导航系统通常构建显式空间表示(如拓扑图、语义栅格图),并将其转化为文本输入。然而,这些文本表示的语言结构及包含的上下文特征(如拓扑、几何)常被视为中立工程选择,而未被视作影响LLM行为的关键因素。为此,我们提出一种双干预框架,将语言结构与不同上下文线索解耦,以评估LLM在导航规划中的语言归纳偏置。其中,表示干预改变语言格式与压缩程度,揭示语言表征何时促进或阻碍规划;上下文干预结合特征组合与冲突探测,明确LLM对不同上下文线索的偏好与弱点。跨多种空间推理任务与多模型规模的实验显示一致规律:拓扑信息是稳健规划的坚实盾牌;语言格式是双刃剑,其效果取决于模型规模、任务需求与压缩水平;而语义信息是致命弱点——错误语义线索会系统性导致规划失败。研究表明,有效的文本空间表示应保持拓扑完整性,根据模型能力校准压缩程度,并确保语义正确性,而非简单采用单一表示。代码已公开于 https://github.com/jonesdong150/LLM-Navigation-Inductive-Bias。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Large Language Model (LLM)-based navigation systems commonly construct explicit spatial representations (e.g., topological graphs, semantic raster maps) and translate them into textual descriptions as LLMs' inputs. However, the linguistic structures of such text-based spatial representations and the choices of contextual features (e.g., topology, geometry) they contain are often treated as neutral engineering decisions rather than key factors that shape LLMs' behavior. To fill the gap, we propose a dual-interventional framework that disentangles linguistic structures from different contextual cues to evaluate the linguistic inductive bias of LLMs for navigation planning. In the framework, representation intervention varies the linguistic format and the degree of linguistic compression, clarifying when linguistic representations support or inhibit navigation planning. Context intervention, combined with contextual feature combination and conflict probing, explicitly clarifies the preferences and weaknesses of LLMs when processing different contextual cues. Experiments across diverse spatial reasoning tasks and multiple model scales reveal a consistent pattern: topological information is a sturdy shield and the backbone of robust planning; linguistic format is a double-edged sword whose effect depends on model size, task demands, and the compression level; and semantic information is a fatal Achilles' heel -- incorrect semantic cues can systematically derail the planning process. Overall, our study shows that effective text-based spatial representations in LLM-based navigation should preserve topological integrity, calibrate representational compression to model capacity, and ensure semantic correctness, rather than simply adopting a single representation. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/jonesdong150/LLM-Navigation-Inductive-Bias.

语言模型导航规划空间推理归纳偏置

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