Accurate, yet inconsistent? Consistency Analysis on Language Understanding Models
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Abstract (arXiv)
Consistency, which refers to the capability of generating the same predictions for semantically similar contexts, is a highly desirable property for a sound language understanding model. Although recent pretrained language models (PLMs) deliver outstanding performance in various downstream tasks, they should exhibit consistent behaviour provided the models truly understand language. In this paper, we propose a simple framework named consistency analysis on language understanding models (CALUM)} to evaluate the model's lower-bound consistency ability. Through experiments, we confirmed that current PLMs are prone to generate inconsistent predictions even for semantically identical inputs. We also observed that multi-task training with paraphrase identification tasks is of benefit to improve consistency, increasing the consistency by 13% on average.
Key facts. Cited by 13 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Builds on 35 of its 48 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 15 Aug 2021.
Builds on
35 of 48 references.
References · 35
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23 more
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Citing papers per year: 2021: 1; 2022: 3; 2023: 4; 2024: 2; 2025: 2; 2026: 1.
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- 2024Looking Inward: Language Models Can Learn About Themselves by Introspectioncited by 105
- 2023Evaluating Superhuman Models with Consistency Checkscited by 47
- 2022Measuring Reliability of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistencycited by 38
- 2023Two Failures of Self-Consistency in the Multi-Step Reasoning of LLMscited by 36
- 2023Predicting Question-Answering Performance of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistencycited by 28
- 2022Unpacking Large Language Models with Conceptual Consistencycited by 18
- 2022Factual Consistency of Multilingual Pretrained Language Modelscited by 15
- 2023Semantic Consistency for Assuring Reliability of Large Language Modelscited by 15
- 2025Potemkin Understanding in Large Language Modelscited by 14
- 2024One vs. Many: Comprehending Accurate Information from Multiple Erroneous and Inconsistent AI Generationscited by 13
- 2025Improving Consistency in Large Language Models through Chain of Guidancecited by 13
- 2021A Survey on Awesome Korean NLP Datasetscited by 3
1 more
- 2026TriAlign: Towards Universal Truth Consistency in Personalized LLM Alignment1 Jun 2026
- 2025Potemkin Understanding in Large Language Models26 Jun 2025
- 2025Improving Consistency in Large Language Models through Chain of Guidance21 Feb 2025
- 2024Looking Inward: Language Models Can Learn About Themselves by Introspection17 Oct 2024
- 2024One vs. Many: Comprehending Accurate Information from Multiple Erroneous and Inconsistent AI Generations9 May 2024
- 2023Predicting Question-Answering Performance of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistency2 Nov 2023
- 2023Semantic Consistency for Assuring Reliability of Large Language Models17 Aug 2023
- 2023Evaluating Superhuman Models with Consistency Checks16 Jun 2023
- 2023Two Failures of Self-Consistency in the Multi-Step Reasoning of LLMs23 May 2023
- 2022Measuring Reliability of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistency10 Nov 2022
- 2022Unpacking Large Language Models with Conceptual Consistency29 Sep 2022
- 2022Factual Consistency of Multilingual Pretrained Language Models22 Mar 2022
1 more
- 2021A Survey on Awesome Korean NLP Datasets17 Oct 2021
- 2024Looking Inward: Language Models Can Learn About Themselves by Introspectioncited by 105
- 2023Evaluating Superhuman Models with Consistency Checkscited by 47
- 2022Measuring Reliability of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistencycited by 38
- 2023Predicting Question-Answering Performance of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistencycited by 28
- 2022Unpacking Large Language Models with Conceptual Consistencycited by 18
- 2022Factual Consistency of Multilingual Pretrained Language Modelscited by 15
- 2023Semantic Consistency for Assuring Reliability of Large Language Modelscited by 15
- 2025Potemkin Understanding in Large Language Modelscited by 14
- 2024One vs. Many: Comprehending Accurate Information from Multiple Erroneous and Inconsistent AI Generationscited by 13
- 2025Improving Consistency in Large Language Models through Chain of Guidancecited by 13
- 2021A Survey on Awesome Korean NLP Datasetscited by 3
- 2025Potemkin Understanding in Large Language Models26 Jun 2025
- 2025Improving Consistency in Large Language Models through Chain of Guidance21 Feb 2025
- 2024Looking Inward: Language Models Can Learn About Themselves by Introspection17 Oct 2024
- 2024One vs. Many: Comprehending Accurate Information from Multiple Erroneous and Inconsistent AI Generations9 May 2024
- 2023Predicting Question-Answering Performance of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistency2 Nov 2023
- 2023Semantic Consistency for Assuring Reliability of Large Language Models17 Aug 2023
- 2023Evaluating Superhuman Models with Consistency Checks16 Jun 2023
- 2022Measuring Reliability of Large Language Models through Semantic Consistency10 Nov 2022
- 2022Unpacking Large Language Models with Conceptual Consistency29 Sep 2022
- 2022Factual Consistency of Multilingual Pretrained Language Models22 Mar 2022
- 2021A Survey on Awesome Korean NLP Datasets17 Oct 2021