PromptEval estimates LLM performance across many prompts, improving reproducibility.
problem Limited prompt templates affect LLM benchmark reproducibility.
method Estimates performance distribution across many prompts using borrowed strength.
result PromptEval accurately estimates performance quantiles with practical budget.
PDO optimizes LLM prompts without labels, improving performance.
problem Optimizing prompts for LLMs without access to labeled data.
method Pairwise preference feedback, dueling bandits, Thompson Sampling, mutation.
result PDO identifies stronger prompts than label-free methods.
InfoPrompt improves soft prompt tuning by maximizing mutual information, leading to better performance.
problem High sensitivity of prompt tuning to initial conditions and insufficient task-relevant information.
method Develops an information-theoretic framework to maximize mutual information between prompts and model parameters, using novel loss functions.
result InfoPrompt accelerates convergence and outperforms traditional methods.
CAPO optimizes LLM prompts more efficiently and cost-effectively.
problem Costly and inefficient automatic prompt optimization for LLMs.
method Integrates AutoML techniques for evolutionary optimization of instructions and few-shot examples.
result Significantly improves prompt optimization efficiency and accuracy.
A method to improve LLMs by automating the construction of a mixture of expert prompts.
problem Limitation of single instruction prompts in covering complex problem spaces.
method Divide the problem space into sub-regions, each governed by a specialized expert with both an instruction and demos. A two-phase process constructs these experts.
result Achieves an average win rate of 81% across major benchmarks.
Bayesian approach quantifies uncertainty in LLM-based systems.
problem Uncertainty quantification in LLM-based systems, especially for high-stakes applications.
method Interpreting prompts as parameters in a Bayesian model, using MHLP for inference.
result Improvements in predictive accuracy and uncertainty quantification on various benchmarks.
Test-time training adapts a pretrained model to each prompt via parameter updates, improving accuracy under pretraining-to-test distribution shifts.
problem Improving accuracy of pretrained models under distribution shifts.
method Explaining TTT behavior through a decision-theoretic lens.
result TTT reduces prediction error when updates are spectrally matched to the prompt's signal-to-noise ratio and aligned with query-relevant eigen-directions.
Theoretical work shows integrating coherent reasoning improves LLM performance and error correction.
problem Improving reasoning and error correction in large language models (LLMs) with few-shot prompting.
method Theoretical analysis and sensitivity experiments on transformer behavior with coherent reasoning and corrupted demonstrations.
result The transformer gains better error correction ability and more accurate predictions when coherent reasoning is integrated.
LLM generates coherent macroeconomic stress scenarios for portfolio risk assessment.
problem Macro-financial stress testing and portfolio risk assessment using traditional methods.
method Hybrid prompt-RAG pipeline combining structured prompting and retrieval of country fundamentals and news.
result LLM-generated scenarios yield stable tail-risk amplification with limited sensitivity to retrieval choices.
New framework improves interpretability of trainable prompts.
problem Improving task-specific LLM performance with soft prompts remains a black-box method.
method Developed a theoretical framework for evaluating interpretability of trainable prompts, inspired new objective functions.
result Found a fundamental trade-off between interpretability and task performance in trainable prompts.
Study on how attention in prompt-tuning affects large language models.
problem Limited theoretical understanding of prompt-tuning and attention in LLMs.
method Exploration of prompt-tuning for one-layer attention architectures, contextual mixture-models, and self-contained prompt-attention model.
result Softmax-prompt-attention is more expressive than self-attention and linear-prompt-attention under contextual data model.
Bayesian approach quantifies uncertainty in LLM evaluations.
problem Statistical uncertainty in evaluating LLM behavior.
method Bayesian evaluation of LLM behavior using probabilistic text generation strategies.
result Bayesian approach provides useful uncertainty quantification about LLM behavior.
Automates zero-shot classification by scoring and weighting prompts.
problem Improving zero-shot accuracy through prompt ensembling.
method Automatic prompt scoring and weighting method.
result Method outperforms existing techniques on various benchmarks.
Understanding optimal prompts for binary sequence predictors is challenging.
problem Finding good prompts for binary sequence predictors is difficult.
method Viewing prompting as finding the best conditioning sequence on a near-optimal sequence predictor, using empirical and statistical analysis.
result Optimal prompts can be better understood given the pretraining distribution, which is not usually available.
Unified framework for studying softmax attention under large prompts.
problem Challenges in theoretical analysis of softmax attention.
method Measure-based framework for finite and infinite prompts.
result Softmax attention converges to linear attention in the large-prompt regime.
Diffusion LLMs can efficiently generate harmful prompts for adversarial testing.
problem Generating harmful prompts for adversarial testing is resource-intensive and costly.
method Transformed adversarial prompt optimization into an efficient inference task using pretrained Diffusion LLMs.
result Only a few conditional samples are required to generate harmful prompts with high reward.
Transformer models can approximate smooth functions with prompts, enhancing LLMs' dynamic capabilities.
problem Lack of theoretical framework for prompt engineering in transformer models.
method Formal framework demonstrating transformer models can approximate β-times differentiable functions with prompts. result Transformer models can approximate β-times differentiable functions with arbitrary precision using appropriately structured prompts. This paper formalizes AI safety using hypothesis testing in GenAI.
problem Ensuring safety of generative AI tools that create realistic content.
method Formalization of computational safety through hypothesis testing and signal processing.
result Demonstrates how AI safety can be assessed quantitatively using mathematical frameworks.
A framework for optimizing prompt selection in generative language models.
problem Efficiently selecting prompts for generative language models.
method Two-stage framework using simulation optimization to maximize a pre-defined score.
result Consistency of the sequential evaluation procedure in the proposed framework.
Single-head transformers with a single self-attention layer can approximate any sequence-to-sequence function and are efficient under certain conditions.
problem Statistical and computational limits of prompt tuning for transformer-based models.
method Investigation of single-head transformers with a single self-attention layer, proving universality and efficiency under SETH.
result Existence of almost-linear time prompt tuning inference algorithms under certain conditions.
This paper explains how to optimize prompts for model adaptation.
problem Understanding and optimizing prompt tuning for model adaptation.
method Bayesian view and meta-learning to explain prompt optimization.
result Optimal prompting can be studied formally as conditioning Bayesian predictors.
LLMs fail to match statistical ground truth despite stable run-to-run performance.
problem LLMs lack validation against statistical ground truth in automated scientific workflows.
method Introduced a behavioral evaluation framework for LLMs, separating four decision-making dimensions.
result LLMs can exhibit near-perfect stability but diverge from statistical ground truth.
TRIPLE efficiently optimizes prompts with a budget constraint.
problem Efficiently selecting good prompts from a pool of candidates.
method TRIPLE connects prompt optimization to best arm identification in MAB, leveraging BAI-FB tools.
result TRIPLE outperforms baselines on multiple tasks with limited budget constraints.
Optimizes LLM prompts using logged user feedback.
problem Naive approaches to optimizing LLM prompts suffer from high variance and bias.
method Kernel-based off-policy gradient method leveraging sentence similarity.
result Substantially reduces variance and suppresses bias in optimizing prompts.
New method identifies shared topics in LLM inputs and outputs for better detection of hallucinations.
problem Detecting semantic drift in LLM responses from context.
method Transformed Deterministic Information Bottleneck (DIB) into UDIB for high-dimensional data.
result UDIB generates more informative topic representations for SDM, improving hallucination detection.
Reward collapse occurs when ranking-based reward models yield uniform rewards for different prompts.
problem Reward collapse in aligning large language models with human preferences.
method Introduced a prompt-aware optimization scheme to derive closed-form expressions for reward distributions.
result Our prompt-aware utility functions significantly alleviate reward collapse during training.
eva method improves RL models by adaptively creating prompts, boosting performance.
problem Fixed prompt distribution limits scalability of RL models post-training.
method Evolving Alignment via Asymmetric Self-Play (eva) approach.
result Significant performance boost on benchmarks, e.g. 51.6% to 60.1% win-rate.
The paper studies estimation rates for MoE models with a new prompt.
problem Estimating parameters in a softmax-contaminated MoE model.
method Analytic notion of distinguishability, minimax optimal estimation rates.
result Estimation rates are minimax optimal under distinguishability, but slower otherwise.
Improves feature selection in high-dimensional data using LLM-generated weights.
problem Inaccurate LLM-generated weights degrade feature selection performance.
method Integrates LLM-generated weights into prior inclusion probabilities using LLM Sparsity Prior (LSP).
result Improves prediction accuracy and identifies clinically relevant features.
LanguaShrink compresses prompts using psycholinguistic principles to reduce costs.
problem Reducing computational cost and efficiency in large language model inference.
method Leverages psycholinguistic principles and the Ebbinghaus memory curve to compress prompts.
result Achieves up to 26 times compression while maintaining semantic similarity.
Study detects and explains positional bias in financial LLMs.
problem Positional bias in financial decision-making using LLMs.
method Unified framework and benchmark for detecting and quantifying bias in Qwen2.5 models.
result Positional bias is pervasive, scale-sensitive, and resurfaces under nuanced prompt designs.
VERA uses variational inference to jailbreak LLMs without manual optimization.
problem Lack of principled objective for gradient-based optimization in jailbreaking LLMs.
method VERA casts black-box jailbreak prompting as a variational inference problem, training a small attacker LLM to approximate the target LLM's posterior over adversarial prompts.
result VERA achieves strong performance across various target LLMs, demonstrating the value of probabilistic inference for adversarial prompt generation.
Develops PromptShift-CRC for drift-aware conformal risk control in foundation models under prompt and domain shift.
problem Fixed calibration risk in foundation models due to prompt and domain shift.
method Embeds prompts and responses, measures drift, gives more weight to recent examples, and updates risk online.
result Develops method to control risk up to terms for distribution mismatch and weighted quantile uncertainty.
Gradient-based framework for optimizing text prompts in diffusion models.
problem Efficiently optimizing prompts in text-to-image diffusion models with large domain space and non-differentiable embeddings.
method Formulated as discrete optimization over language space, designed compact subspaces, and introduced shortcut text gradient.
result Empirically discovered prompts that enhance or destroy image faithfulness.
ZegOT uses optimal transport to zero-shot segment images with text prompts.
problem Zero-shot semantic segmentation with limited image-text alignment knowledge.
method ZegOT uses optimal transport to match multiple text prompts with frozen image embeddings.
result ZegOT achieves state-of-the-art performance in zero-shot semantic segmentation.
This work analyzes CoT prompting methods from a statistical estimation perspective.
problem Improving the effectiveness of LLMs in solving multi-step reasoning problems.
method Introducing a multi-step latent variable model to characterize CoT prompting from a statistical estimation viewpoint.
result The CoT estimator is equivalent to a Bayesian estimator when the pretraining dataset is large.
Transformers can emulate various algorithms by prompting, proving universality.
problem How to emulate algorithms using fixed-weight Transformers.
method Two modes of in-context algorithm emulation: task-specific and prompt-programmable. Constructing prompts that encode algorithm parameters into token representations.
result Fixed-weight Transformers can emulate a broad class of algorithms via prompts.
OTSeg uses multi-prompt Sinkhorn attention to improve zero-shot semantic segmentation.
problem Leveraging pre-trained CLIP knowledge to align text embeddings with pixel embeddings.
method OTSeg employs Multi-Prompts Sinkhorn (MPS) and Multi-Prompts Sinkhorn Attention (MPSA) to enhance semantic feature matching.
result OTSeg achieves state-of-the-art performance in zero-shot semantic segmentation tasks.
Fine-tuning LLMs on privacy-sensitive data introduces privacy risk, and synthetic data audits can quantify this risk.
problem Fine-tuning LLMs on privacy-sensitive data introduces privacy risk.
method Generate synthetic canaries via high-temperature sampling from LLMs.
result Synthetic canaries are high-influence outliers that ensure strong audits.
Study analyzes convergence of parameter estimation in contaminated mixture of experts.
problem Challenges in learning from prompts in large-scale models.
method Convergence analysis, distinguishability condition, partial differential equations.
result Comprehensive convergence rates and minimax lower bounds for parameter estimation.
Adaptive testing segments watermarked text from LLMs.
problem Distinguishing LLM-generated text from human-written content.
method Generalized likelihood-based detection method adapted to inverse transform sampling, removing prompt estimation sensitivity.
result Effective and robust method for segmenting watermarked text.
Generative model learns to create coherent slates from prompts.
problem Generating coherent slates from natural language prompts.
method DMSG, a generative framework based on diffusion models.
result DMSG outperforms baselines in relevance and diversity.
Dropping a tiny fraction of preferences can significantly alter the rankings of top LLMs.
problem Robustness of LLM ranking systems to small changes in preference data.
method A computational method based on the Bradley-Terry model to evaluate robustness.
result Top LLM rankings can be highly sensitive to the removal of a small fraction of preferences.
CurveRL optimizes large model reasoning by reweighting prompts based on their rank and density.
problem Improving large language model reasoning through context reweighting.
method Formulated prompt reweighting as a functional derivative, proposing CurveRL based on quantile coordinate transform.
result CurveRL consistently outperforms existing methods across multiple benchmarks.
Efficiently evaluate generative models at the prompt level using tensor factorization.
problem Fine-grained evaluations of generative models are costly and often misaligned with human judgment.
method Tensor factorization model that merges cheap autorater data with a small set of human gold-standard labels.
result The method provides accurate and tight confidence intervals for model performance.
Sequence probability predicts correctness in LLMs, but not for repeated prompts
problem Predicting correctness in large language models
method Quantifying sequence probability and correctness across different levels
result Higher sequence probability often predicts correctness across prompt-answer pairs
Co-PLNet combines point and line predictions to improve wireframe parsing accuracy and efficiency.
problem Separate line and point predictions lead to inconsistent wireframes.
method Co-PLNet uses a Point-Line Prompt Encoder to convert early point detections into spatial prompts, which guide line refinement.
result Co-PLNet achieves better accuracy and robustness in wireframe parsing compared to existing methods.
ADAPT improves robustness of Vision Transformers without full model fine-tuning.
problem Vulnerability of Vision Transformers to adversarial attacks.
method Parameter-efficient prompt tuning with ADAPT framework for adaptive adversarial training.
result ADAPT achieves robust accuracy of ~40% w.r.t. SOTA methods using only ~1% of the parameters.