Observations and Remedies for Large Language Model Bias in Self-Consuming Performative Loop

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Wang, Yaxuan, Cai, Zhongteng, Bao, Yujia, Zhang, Xueru, Liu, Yang
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Wang, Yaxuan
Cai, Zhongteng
Bao, Yujia
Zhang, Xueru
Liu, Yang
author_facet Wang, Yaxuan
Cai, Zhongteng
Bao, Yujia
Zhang, Xueru
Liu, Yang
contents The rapid advancement of large language models (LLMs) has led to growing interest in using synthetic data to train future models. However, this creates a self-consuming retraining loop, where models are trained on their own outputs and may cause performance drops and induce emerging biases. In real-world applications, previously deployed LLMs may influence the data they generate, leading to a dynamic system driven by user feedback. For example, if a model continues to underserve users from a group, less query data will be collected from this particular demographic of users. In this study, we introduce the concept of \textbf{S}elf-\textbf{C}onsuming \textbf{P}erformative \textbf{L}oop (\textbf{SCPL}) and investigate the role of synthetic data in shaping bias during these dynamic iterative training processes under controlled performative feedback. This controlled setting is motivated by the inaccessibility of real-world user preference data from dynamic production systems, and enables us to isolate and analyze feedback-driven bias evolution in a principled manner. We focus on two types of loops, including the typical retraining setting and the incremental fine-tuning setting, which is largely underexplored. Through experiments on three real-world tasks, we find that the performative loop increases preference bias and decreases disparate bias. We design a reward-based rejection sampling strategy to mitigate the bias, moving towards more trustworthy self-improving systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_05184
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Observations and Remedies for Large Language Model Bias in Self-Consuming Performative Loop
Wang, Yaxuan
Cai, Zhongteng
Bao, Yujia
Zhang, Xueru
Liu, Yang
Artificial Intelligence
Computation and Language
The rapid advancement of large language models (LLMs) has led to growing interest in using synthetic data to train future models. However, this creates a self-consuming retraining loop, where models are trained on their own outputs and may cause performance drops and induce emerging biases. In real-world applications, previously deployed LLMs may influence the data they generate, leading to a dynamic system driven by user feedback. For example, if a model continues to underserve users from a group, less query data will be collected from this particular demographic of users. In this study, we introduce the concept of \textbf{S}elf-\textbf{C}onsuming \textbf{P}erformative \textbf{L}oop (\textbf{SCPL}) and investigate the role of synthetic data in shaping bias during these dynamic iterative training processes under controlled performative feedback. This controlled setting is motivated by the inaccessibility of real-world user preference data from dynamic production systems, and enables us to isolate and analyze feedback-driven bias evolution in a principled manner. We focus on two types of loops, including the typical retraining setting and the incremental fine-tuning setting, which is largely underexplored. Through experiments on three real-world tasks, we find that the performative loop increases preference bias and decreases disparate bias. We design a reward-based rejection sampling strategy to mitigate the bias, moving towards more trustworthy self-improving systems.
title Observations and Remedies for Large Language Model Bias in Self-Consuming Performative Loop
topic Artificial Intelligence
Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05184