UnpredictaBench:评估大语言模型分布随机性的基准
阅读原文· arxiv.orgUnpredictaBench 测试大语言模型(LLM)捕捉真实底层分布的能力。基准包含 448 个问题,涵盖标准统计分布、随机程序产生的分布以及描述随机过程的自然语言场景。采用 KS@N 指标(基于 Kolmogorov-Smirnov 检验)衡量模型输出与黑盒目标分布的逼近程度。测试开源和闭源模型发现,生成样本数为 100(KS@100)时,得分从接近 0 到超过 20%,没有任何模型达到 40% 以上。增加推理能力可略微提升分数,但无法根本解决该问题。UnpredictaBench 表明即使简单的分布模拟对 LLM 仍具挑战性。
We introduce UnpredictaBench, an evaluation that tests the ability of large language models (LLMs) to capture true underlying distributions. As LLMs are increasingly used as substitutes for other entities (e.g., for humans in economic simulations), the tendency of many models to collapse towards a single plausible answer means a failure to capture the unpredictability of real systems. Recent work on improving output diversity is insufficient for this setting: simulation requires samples that are calibrated to a target distribution, not merely varied outputs. UnpredictaBench isolates a simplified but fundamental version of this problem: sampling outcomes from individual target distributions, including canonical statistical distributions, distributions induced by stochastic programs, and natural-language scenarios that describe random processes. We introduce 448 such problems together with KS@N, a general-purpose evaluation metric that quantifies how well a model outputs approximate black-box target distributions via the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical test. This is the rate at which we fail to reject model samples of size N against ground-truth samples, with larger N indicating greater difficulty. Tested across open and proprietary models, we find a large spread in distributional capabilities. For instance, when models generate samples of size 100 (KS@100, our standard metric), scores range from near 0 to over 20%. No model is able to achieve over 40% at KS@100, showing significant headroom in distributional sampling as a capability. Although adding reasoning can somewhat increase scores, we find no immediate solution for this issue. UnpredictaBench shows that even simple distributional simulation remains challenging, making it a necessary first step toward using LLMs as stand-ins for complex systems.