Shaping Shared Languages: Human and Large Language Models' Inductive Biases in Emergent Communication

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Main Authors: Kouwenhoven, Tom, Peeperkorn, Max, de Kleijn, Roy, Verhoef, Tessa
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Kouwenhoven, Tom
Peeperkorn, Max
de Kleijn, Roy
Verhoef, Tessa
author_facet Kouwenhoven, Tom
Peeperkorn, Max
de Kleijn, Roy
Verhoef, Tessa
contents Languages are shaped by the inductive biases of their users. Using a classical referential game, we investigate how artificial languages evolve when optimised for inductive biases in humans and large language models (LLMs) via Human-Human, LLM-LLM and Human-LLM experiments. We show that referentially grounded vocabularies emerge that enable reliable communication in all conditions, even when humans \textit{and} LLMs collaborate. Comparisons between conditions reveal that languages optimised for LLMs subtly differ from those optimised for humans. Interestingly, interactions between humans and LLMs alleviate these differences and result in vocabularies more human-like than LLM-like. These findings advance our understanding of the role inductive biases in LLMs play in the dynamic nature of human language and contribute to maintaining alignment in human and machine communication. In particular, our work underscores the need to think of new LLM training methods that include human interaction and shows that using communicative success as a reward signal can be a fruitful, novel direction.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_04395
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Shaping Shared Languages: Human and Large Language Models' Inductive Biases in Emergent Communication
Kouwenhoven, Tom
Peeperkorn, Max
de Kleijn, Roy
Verhoef, Tessa
Computation and Language
Languages are shaped by the inductive biases of their users. Using a classical referential game, we investigate how artificial languages evolve when optimised for inductive biases in humans and large language models (LLMs) via Human-Human, LLM-LLM and Human-LLM experiments. We show that referentially grounded vocabularies emerge that enable reliable communication in all conditions, even when humans \textit{and} LLMs collaborate. Comparisons between conditions reveal that languages optimised for LLMs subtly differ from those optimised for humans. Interestingly, interactions between humans and LLMs alleviate these differences and result in vocabularies more human-like than LLM-like. These findings advance our understanding of the role inductive biases in LLMs play in the dynamic nature of human language and contribute to maintaining alignment in human and machine communication. In particular, our work underscores the need to think of new LLM training methods that include human interaction and shows that using communicative success as a reward signal can be a fruitful, novel direction.
title Shaping Shared Languages: Human and Large Language Models' Inductive Biases in Emergent Communication
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.04395