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Main Authors: Huang, Jiacheng, Yu, Ning, Yi, Xiaoyin
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07193
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author Huang, Jiacheng
Yu, Ning
Yi, Xiaoyin
author_facet Huang, Jiacheng
Yu, Ning
Yi, Xiaoyin
contents Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed in real-world communication settings, yet their ability to resolve context-dependent ambiguity remains underexplored. In this work, we present EMODIS, a new benchmark for evaluating LLMs' capacity to interpret ambiguous emoji expressions under minimal but contrastive textual contexts. Each instance in EMODIS comprises an ambiguous sentence containing an emoji, two distinct disambiguating contexts that lead to divergent interpretations, and a specific question that requires contextual reasoning. We evaluate both open-source and API-based LLMs, and find that even the strongest models frequently fail to distinguish meanings when only subtle contextual cues are present. Further analysis reveals systematic biases toward dominant interpretations and limited sensitivity to pragmatic contrast. EMODIS provides a rigorous testbed for assessing contextual disambiguation, and highlights the gap in semantic reasoning between humans and LLMs.
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publishDate 2025
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spellingShingle EMODIS: A Benchmark for Context-Dependent Emoji Disambiguation in Large Language Models
Huang, Jiacheng
Yu, Ning
Yi, Xiaoyin
Computation and Language
Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed in real-world communication settings, yet their ability to resolve context-dependent ambiguity remains underexplored. In this work, we present EMODIS, a new benchmark for evaluating LLMs' capacity to interpret ambiguous emoji expressions under minimal but contrastive textual contexts. Each instance in EMODIS comprises an ambiguous sentence containing an emoji, two distinct disambiguating contexts that lead to divergent interpretations, and a specific question that requires contextual reasoning. We evaluate both open-source and API-based LLMs, and find that even the strongest models frequently fail to distinguish meanings when only subtle contextual cues are present. Further analysis reveals systematic biases toward dominant interpretations and limited sensitivity to pragmatic contrast. EMODIS provides a rigorous testbed for assessing contextual disambiguation, and highlights the gap in semantic reasoning between humans and LLMs.
title EMODIS: A Benchmark for Context-Dependent Emoji Disambiguation in Large Language Models
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.07193