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The remarkable capabilities of modern large reasoning models are largely unlocked through post-training techniques such as supervised fine-tuning (SFT) and reinforcement learning (RL). However, the architectural mechanisms behind such…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-04-15 Yein Park , Minbyul Jeong , Jaewoo Kang

The paper explores how video models trained for classification tasks represent nuanced, hidden semantic information that may not affect the final outcome, a key challenge for Trustworthy AI models. Through Explainable and Interpretable AI…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-03-13 Sai V R Chereddy

While Mechanistic Interpretability has identified interpretable circuits in LLMs, their causal origins in training data remain elusive. We introduce Mechanistic Data Attribution (MDA), a scalable framework that employs Influence Functions…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-01-30 Jianhui Chen , Yuzhang Luo , Liangming Pan

Language models often exhibit behaviors that improve performance on a pre-training objective but harm performance on downstream tasks. We propose a novel approach to removing undesirable behaviors by ablating a small number of causal…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2024-01-31 Maximilian Li , Xander Davies , Max Nadeau

OthelloGPT, a transformer trained to predict valid moves in Othello, provides an ideal testbed for interpretability research. The model is complex enough to exhibit rich computational patterns, yet grounded in rule-based game logic that…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-11-04 Aditya Singh , Zihang Wen , Srujananjali Medicherla , Adam Karvonen , Can Rager

The circuits framework in mechanistic interpretability aims to identify causally important sparse subgraphs of model components, typically evaluated by measuring necessity and sufficiency. We measure circuit reuse, the proportion of…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-05-12 Michael Li , Nishant Subramani

Recurrent meta reinforcement learning (meta-RL) agents are agents that employ a recurrent neural network (RNN) for the purpose of "learning a learning algorithm". After being trained on a pre-specified task distribution, the learned weights…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2021-05-03 Safa Alver , Doina Precup

Continual learning (CL) enables the development of models and agents that learn from a sequence of tasks while addressing the limitations of standard deep learning approaches, such as catastrophic forgetting. In this work, we investigate…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2023-05-19 Massimo Caccia , Jonas Mueller , Taesup Kim , Laurent Charlin , Rasool Fakoor

The multi-head self-attention mechanism of the transformer model has been thoroughly investigated recently. In one vein of study, researchers are interested in understanding why and how transformers work. In another vein, researchers…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2022-10-28 Raymond Li , Wen Xiao , Linzi Xing , Lanjun Wang , Gabriel Murray , Giuseppe Carenini

Mechanistic interpretability work attempts to reverse engineer the learned algorithms present inside neural networks. One focus of this work has been to discover 'circuits' -- subgraphs of the full model that explain behaviour on specific…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-07-12 Joseph Miller , Bilal Chughtai , William Saunders

Reinforcement learning has shown great promise in robotics thanks to its ability to develop efficient robotic control procedures through self-training. In particular, reinforcement learning has been successfully applied to solving the…

Robotics · Computer Science 2020-11-12 Pierre Aumjaud , David McAuliffe , Francisco Javier Rodríguez Lera , Philip Cardiff

We localize the policy routing mechanism in alignment-trained language models. An intermediate-layer attention gate reads detected content and triggers deeper amplifier heads that boost the signal toward refusal. In smaller models the gate…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-05-04 Gregory N. Frank

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a central problem in artificial intelligence. This problem consists of defining artificial agents that can learn optimal behaviour by interacting with an environment -- where the optimal behaviour is defined…

Mechanistic interpretability has transformed the analysis of transformer circuits by decomposing model behavior into competing algorithms, identifying phase transitions during training, and deriving closed-form predictions for when and why…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-03-19 Alma Lago

We introduce an autonomous multiagent framework for mechanistic interpretability that automates both explaining and finding internal features in large language models. The system runs two coupled loops: (1) explanation refinement, where an…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-05-05 Arnau Marin-Llobet , Javier Ferrando

Neural networks are growing more capable on their own, but we do not understand their neural mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms' decision-making processes, or mechanistic interpretability, enables (1) accountability and control in…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2026-03-02 Mason Kadem , Rong Zheng

We propose a novel Reinforcement Learning model for discrete environments, which is inherently interpretable and supports the discovery of deep subgoal hierarchies. In the model, an agent learns information about environment in the form of…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2022-02-16 Alexander Demin , Denis Ponomaryov

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a framework to optimize a control policy using rewards that are revealed by the system as a response to a control action. In its standard form, RL involves a single agent that uses its policy to accomplish a…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2021-11-24 Juan Cervino , Juan Andres Bazerque , Miguel Calvo-Fullana , Alejandro Ribeiro

Transformer-based language models have achieved significant success; however, their internal mechanisms remain largely opaque due to the complexity of non-linear interactions and high-dimensional operations. While previous studies have…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-02-17 Lin Zhang , Lijie Hu , Di Wang

AI agents are increasingly used to solve real-world tasks by reasoning over multi-turn user interactions and invoking external tools. However, applying reinforcement learning to such settings remains difficult: realistic objectives often…