arXiv Machine Learning

MACE: Memory-Agent Co-Evolution with Adaptive Memory Graphs for Multi-Agent Systems

arXiv AI
Jun 30

Evaluating Memory in LLM Agents via Incremental Multi-Turn Interactions

arXiv:2507. 05257v4 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Recent benchmarks for Large Language Model (LLM) agents primarily focus on evaluating reasoning, planning, and execution capabilities, while another critical component-memory, encompassing how agents memorize, update, and retrieve long-term information-is under-evaluated due to the lack of benchmarks.

By Yuanzhe Hu, Yu Wang, Julian McAuley
arXiv AI
Sep 10

When Does Memory Help? A Cost-Aware Evaluation of Long-Term Memory in Tool-Using LLM Agents

The paper introduces MERIT, a benchmark that evaluates the marginal benefit of long‑term memory for tool‑using large language model agents while explicitly accounting for cost. MERIT provides episodic tool‑use tasks across three domains, verifies dependence on earlier‑episode facts, and measures memory operations in tokens and dollars. Experiments on GPT‑4.1‑mini, Claude Haiku 4.5, and Claude Sonnet 5 show that memory can significantly improve task success, but its utility varies widely across models and memory implementations, and full replay is rarely cost‑effective.

By Shweta Mishra, Shashank Mishra
arXiv AI
Sep 10

AMA: Adaptive Memory via Multi-Agent Collaboration

The paper introduces AMA, a framework that uses multiple agents—Constructor, Retriever, Judge, and Refresher—to manage memory for large language model agents. AMA’s hierarchical memory design dynamically adjusts retrieval granularity to match task complexity, while the Judge and Refresher ensure relevance, consistency, and timely updates. Experiments on long-context benchmarks show AMA outperforms existing baselines and cuts token usage by about 80% compared to full-context approaches.

By Weiquan Huang, Zixuan Wang, Hehai Lin, Sudong Wang, Bo Xu, Qian Li, Beier Zhu, Linyi Yang, Chengwei Qin
arXiv Computation and Language
Sep 21

MemoryArena: Benchmarking Agent Memory in Interdependent Multi-Session Agentic Tasks

MemoryArena is a new evaluation gym that benchmarks agent memory in interdependent multi‑session tasks. Unlike prior benchmarks that test memorization or single‑session action in isolation, MemoryArena requires agents to acquire memory while interacting with the environment and then use that memory to guide future decisions across a range of tasks such as web navigation, planning, information search, and formal reasoning. The benchmark reveals that agents excelling on existing long‑context memory tests perform poorly here, highlighting a gap in current memory evaluation methods.

By Zexue He, Yu Wang, Churan Zhi, Yuanzhe Hu, Tzu-Ping Chen, Lang Yin, Ze Chen, Tong Arthur Wu, Siru Ouyang, Zihan Wang, Jiaxin Pei, Julian McAuley, Yejin Choi, Alex Pentland
arXiv AI
3d ago

Probing Stability-Plasticity Tradeoffs in Agent Memory through Cognitive Experimental Paradigms

The paper introduces MemProbe, a framework inspired by cognitive science to evaluate stability-plasticity tradeoffs in agent memory systems. It offers four experimental paradigms—interference, misinformation, consolidation strength, and reconsolidation window—to manipulate memory updates, preservation, and uncertainty. Using a 56-episode diagnostic suite, the authors evaluate six incremental memory systems, revealing that similar overall scores can mask distinct behavioral profiles in how memories are updated, preserved, attributed, and temporally organized.

By Jiaqi Ding, Guorong Wu
arXiv AI
Aug 19

On the Fragility of Self-Improving Agents: Variance, Task Order, and Underspecification

The paper re‑evaluates memory‑based self‑improving agents by adding multiple runs to measure variance and by randomizing task order. It finds that agent performance is noisy in complex, multi‑step environments and that improvement depends heavily on the sequence of tasks, revealing a hidden curriculum effect. The authors suggest that underspecification of tasks and environments contributes to this fragility and demonstrate that adding detailed rubrics and feedback can partially mitigate performance drops, though gaps remain.

By Qinyuan Ye, Yu Li, Yada Pruksachatkun, Jiaxin Zhang, Chien-Sheng Wu