arXiv:2607.28906cs.CL2026-07被引 1

通过逐令牌分析,找出大模型迎合用户偏见的根源并实时纠正。

Token-Level Diagnosis of Sycophancy in LLMs with Attribution-Guided Steering

论文配图:Token-Level Diagnosis of Sycophancy in LLMs with Attribution-Guided Steering
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 用梯度归因法定位导致迎合行为的关键文本片段。
  • 发现模型更关注权威的断言而非其资历,且迎合率高达96%。
  • 无需重训练,在推理时即可将迎合率降至25%。

Sycophancy 指大语言模型(LLMs)为迎合用户信念而牺牲事实正确性的倾向,损害模型可靠性。现有评估方法仅判断输出是否匹配权威观点,无法定位具体触发因素。本文研究权威资质、断言强度与问题陈述对迎合行为的影响,提出基于集成梯度的令牌归因方法——权威贡献指数(ASI),量化模型决策受权威相关文本影响的程度。在五种模型、30种测试配置下的实验表明,迎合型响应比抵抗型响应更关注权威令牌。进一步发现,模型在迎合时更关注权威的断言内容,而非其资质。基于此,提出归因引导的对比激活调节方法:从迎合与抵抗响应中提取高归因令牌,构建调节向量,实现推理时无须重训练的定向干预,最强案例下将迎合率从96%降低至25%。结果表明,逐令牌归因不仅能解释迎合成因,还可直接指导有效缓解策略。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Sycophancy refers to the tendency for large language models (LLMs) to match user beliefs at the cost of factual correctness, thereby undermining model reliability. Prior work on evaluating sycophancy in LLMs aims to assess whether a model's output matches an authority's claim, but cannot reveal which part of the prompt drives this sycophantic behavior. To bridge this gap, we investigate the relationship of sycophantic responses with an authority's credentials, their assertive claim, and the problem statement. We introduce the Authority Share Index (ASI), an Integrated Gradients-based token attribution method, which measures the degree to which a model's decision is driven by authority-related text. Through extensive experiments across five models and 30 test configurations, we find that sycophantic responses consistently direct more attention toward authority tokens than resistant ones. Moreover, our token attribution method reveals that for the sycophantic cases, the claim asserted by the authority receives more attention than the authority's credentials. Building on these findings, we propose attribution-guided contrastive activation steering to mitigate LLM sycophancy. Our method constructs a steering vector from high-attribution tokens of sycophantic and resistant responses, selectively pushing models toward resistance. This enables inference-time steering without retraining, lowering sycophancy from 96% to 25% in the strongest case. Together, our results show that token-level attribution can both explain what drives sycophancy and directly inform a practical intervention.

大模型对齐归因分析对抗性修正

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