LLMs' Self-Awareness: A Capability Gap
Published:Dec 31, 2025 06:14
•1 min read
•ArXiv
Analysis
This paper investigates a crucial aspect of LLM development: their self-awareness. The findings highlight a significant limitation – overconfidence – that hinders their performance, especially in multi-step tasks. The study's focus on how LLMs learn from experience and the implications for AI safety are particularly important.
Key Takeaways
- •LLMs exhibit overconfidence in their abilities.
- •Overconfidence can worsen during multi-step tasks.
- •Learning from failure can improve decision-making in some LLMs.
- •LLMs' optimistic self-estimates lead to poor decision-making despite rational behavior given those estimates.
- •Lack of self-awareness poses risks for AI misuse and misalignment.
Reference
“All LLMs we tested are overconfident...”