The paper introduces EXPO, an algorithm that automatically optimizes the meta-prompt—specifically the task description and meta-instruction—for large language model agents in sequential decision-making tasks such as Bayesian optimization and multi-armed bandits. Building on adversarial bandit techniques to handle non-stationary rewards, the authors extend EXPO to EXPO-ES, which also optimizes exemplars (historical interactions) within the meta-prompt. Experiments demonstrate that these methods significantly improve the performance of LLM-based agents in sequential decision-making scenarios.
By Mingze Kong, Zhiyong Wang, Yao Shu, Zhongxiang Dai
Recent advances in Reinforcement Learning (RL) have substantially improved the capabilities of autonomous search agents, enabling sophisticated planning, and iterative retrieval over dynamic information sources. However, optimizing language models for specialized search behaviors often incurs an alignment tax, where gains in search performance come at the expense of general-purpose capabilities, limiting their effectiveness as universal assistants.
arXiv:2608. 16707v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed as decision-making agents in settings that require sophisticated environmental exploration.
By David Eric Austin, Kaheer Suleman, Jackie Chi Kit Cheung
arXiv:2606. 24064v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Distilling reasoning capabilities from strong to weak language models typically involves imitating specific solution trajectories, effectively transferring what to answer rather than how to reason.
By Tianyuan Shi, Canbin Huang, Bei Li, Xin Chen, Xiaojun Quan, Jingang Wang, Qifan Wang
arXiv:2607. 24779v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Online advertising bidding systems typically deploy multiple offline-trained expert models (e.
By Ji Wu, Yunshan Peng, Wentao Bai, Yunke Bai, Wenzheng Shu, Jinan Pang, Yanxiang Zeng, Xialong Liu
Reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR) improves the reasoning capabilities of large language models, but prompt groups with identical rollout rewards consume generation budget without effective learning signals. Pre-rollout prompt selection can reduce this waste by screening prompts before rollout generation.
arXiv:2601. 07055v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: As high-quality data becomes increasingly difficult to obtain, self-evolution without curated training data has emerged as a promising paradigm.
By Zhenrui Yue, Kartikeya Upasani, Xianjun Yang, Suyu Ge, Shaoliang Nie, Yuning Mao, Zhe Liu, Dong Wang
The paper investigates whether large language model (LLM) agents can effectively explore each other in multi‑agent settings. It finds that current LLM agents often exhibit myopic and polarized interactions, leading to suboptimal coordination and higher regret. To address this, the authors propose Multi‑Agent Contextual Exploration (MACE), a lightweight framework that encourages structured peer selection, which improves exploration behavior and downstream task performance while achieving a sublinear expected‑regret bound.
By Hyeong Kyu Choi, Jiatong Li, Wendi Li, Xin Eric Wang, Sharon Li
arXiv:2607.28077v2 Announce Type: replace
Abstract: Reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR) improves the reasoning capabilities of large language models, but prompt groups with identica...
By Shuang Liang, Haoyang Zhou, Yifan Gong, Guowei Wang, Xiting Wang
arXiv:2410. 02511v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: With expansive state-action spaces, efficient multi-agent exploration remains a longstanding challenge in reinforcement learning.
By Yun Qu, Boyuan Wang, Yuhang Jiang, Jianzhun Shao, Yixiu Mao, Heming Zou, Chang Liu, Cheems Wang, Meiqin Liu, Xiangyang Ji
arXiv:2604. 17244v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Large language model (LLM) agents for sequential decision-making struggle to produce diverse outputs.
By Priya Gurjar, Md Farhan Ishmam, Kenneth Marino
COBRA‑Skills is a new framework that treats skill optimization for large language model agents as a budgeted sequential problem over a dynamically evolving candidate set. It uses contextual‑bandit prioritization to focus evaluations on promising or informative candidates and refines the skill population based on execution feedback. In experiments across six agent benchmarks and three target models, COBRA‑Skills outperforms existing methods, cuts optimization cost by 55–58 % compared to SkillOpt, and requires only 50 unique optimization examples per benchmark.
By Pingchen Lu, Xiangyi Wang, Xiang Li, Jie Mao, Zikun Qu, Junfeng Luo, Yao Shu, Bryan Kian Hsiang Low, Zhongxiang Dai