#01Oct 23, 2026
cs.CL
The Language of Instruction: Genre and Generative AI
James E. Dobson
This article argues that instruction-fine-tuned language models should be understood as implementing a genre, what is proposed as the instructional-conversational genre. This genre is an amalgamation of discursive language from prior conversations between generative models and humans recursively run through these massive neural networks. It is instantiated in applications through instruction fine-tuning, the inclusion of a pretext known as a system prompt, and the formalization of inputs in mark-up languages characterized by the use of special tokens and role assignment in turntaking structures.
#02Oct 23, 2026
cs.AI
Do "True" and "False" Add Up to One? Complement Consistency in LLM-Agent Opinion Simulations
Anouar Imel, Jin Qi
In LLM-agent opinion simulations, each agent reports the probability that a claim is true after seeing its own previous probability and the probabilities reported by its neighbors, and that number becomes its state in the next round. If the number describes the agent's position rather than the sentence it was shown, then rewriting the claim as its complement and replacing every probability p with 1 - p should return the complementary answer, so the two reports should sum to one. We test this with three small open models: Qwen3-4B, Llama-3.2-3B and Gemma-3-4B. On 2,304 agent states taken from a running network simulation, Qwen's paired reports sum to 1.18 on average, and on 48 real fact-checking claims from AVeriTeC they again exceed one. A controlled benchmark of 24 worlds, each with exactly two possible outcomes, shows the same failure in all three models. The discrepancy is two to ten times larger than the change produced by a same-meaning paraphrase, and it persists under repeated sampling and across peer group sizes and report strengths. When the reports are fed back into two populations that start from complementary states, the populations do not remain mirror images: their divergence is positive after five rounds for every model. Averaging each answer with the complement of its paired answer restores consistency by construction and lowers Brier loss averaged over the two wordings, but at the final round it beats the better of the two original wordings for only one of the three models. A schedule-by-targeting experiment on the same model gives a small, stable interaction because such sweeps keep the claim wording fixed. Consistency under rewording therefore needs its own test before simulated probabilities are read as beliefs
#03Oct 23, 2026
cs.SE
Green Code or Costly Code? Evaluating the Energy Costs of Iterative LLM-Based Code Optimizations
Sadra Emami, Benjamin Weigell, Mohammad Reza Mousavi and 3 more
Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly used to optimize code for performance. This practice often assumes that improvements in execution speed naturally translate into overall lower energy consumption. We challenge this assumption empirically by measuring whether performance-optimized code produced by LLM self-refinement pipelines is also energy-efficient relative to canonical human reference solutions, and whether the energy cost of the optimization process can be offset by subsequent execution-time savings. We evaluate 11 open-source models across four decoding configurations on all 1,000 problems of EffiBench, a state-of-the-art performance benchmark, while collecting per-process, hardware-level energy measurements throughout. Inference energy spans 0.79 to 8.68 MJ across model-variant pairs, which is roughly equivalent to the energy of 250 to 2800 GPT-4.1 queries. Limiting the maximum number of output tokens has the largest impact, reducing energy use by up to 69% compared to the default configuration. On the execution side, 42 of 44 configurations produce code that consumes more energy per problem than the canonical human reference, with overheads ranging from +4% to +886%. The two exceptions achieve only marginal gains, with break-even points on the order of 10^6 to 10^7 executions. Mixture-of-Experts architectures consume substantially less inference energy than equivalently-sized dense models without sacrificing correctness, making architectural choice a more consequential sustainability lever than decoding parameters. Performance optimization and energy efficiency are not always aligned goals: LLM self-refinement consistently produces faster-seeking but energy-heavier code relative to what a human engineer would write. All artifacts are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23598170.
#04Oct 23, 2026
econ.TH
Monetizing Intelligence: Advertising and Subscription Design on LLM Platforms
Yuhang Ji, Fasheng Xu, Tianjun Feng
Large language model (LLM) platforms introducing advertising must decide how much capability ad revenue should fund and what consumers should pay to avoid ads. We study a monopolistic platform that jointly chooses costly response quality, advertising intensity, and subscription prices when advertising reduces user value but better service raises advertising returns. Three findings follow. First, when partly ad-supported and ad-free plans coexist, advertising can finance useful service for consumers who receive none under pure subscription. Lower effective quality in middle plans weakens the alternatives available to premium users, allowing higher prices for unchanged ad-free service. Some fully ad-supported users gain utility, while partly ad-supported and ad-free users lose: broader access can coexist with utility polarization. Second, an intermediate advertising cap can maximize consumer surplus by preserving some revenue that finances service while limiting degradation. Third, cheaper compute can raise quality and reduce ad intensity, yet sufficiently large cost reductions can increase aggregate advertising revenue above its initial level because better service raises the value of the remaining advertised interactions. An extension shows how advertising-funded upgrades can bring plans to the same maximum capability and advertising exposure, eliminating the basis for different prices. These results make menu design central to evaluating LLM advertising: the consequences extend beyond users who see ads to the alternatives and prices faced by those who do not.
#05Oct 23, 2026
cs.LG
PoKER: A Probability of Kill Estimation Rate Model for Air-to-Air Missiles Using Machine Learning on Stochastic Targets
Joao P. A. Dantas, Andre N. Costa, Diego Geraldo and 2 more
This work introduces PoKER, a novel probabilistic model engineered to optimize missile launch effectiveness in air-to-air scenarios, specifically within Beyond Visual Range (BVR) air combat. Unlike conventional Weapon Engagement Zone (WEZ) models that delineate zones based on static distances such as maximum, minimum, and no-escape ranges, PoKER applies machine learning to predict kill probabilities more accurately by integrating the stochastic behaviors of targets and missile miss distances. This model dynamically evaluates target behavior, greatly expanding the predictive capabilities of engagement analysis. By factoring in elements such as warhead lethality, target and shooter orientations, and the specific conditions of engagement, PoKER provides important insights into engagement dynamics and quantifies success probabilities. Consequently, it can potentially be an important tool for BVR air combat pilots, improving operational decision-making within this specialized combat domain.