# Social Skill Training with Large Language Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.04204 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.04204/

## Key facts

- Cited by 15 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 53 of its 162 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 5 Apr 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 53)

- [Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.02155/) (2022)
- [Llama 2: Open Foundation and Fine-Tuned Chat Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09288/) (2023)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11401/) (2020)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [Judging LLM-as-a-Judge with MT-Bench and Chatbot Arena](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.05685/) (2023)
- [Toolformer: Language Models Can Teach Themselves to Use Tools](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.04761/) (2023)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Lost in the Middle: How Language Models Use Long Contexts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.03172/) (2023)
- [Constitutional AI: Harmlessness from AI Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08073/) (2022)
- [TruthfulQA: Measuring How Models Mimic Human Falsehoods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.07958/) (2021)
- [A Survey on Large Language Model based Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.11432/) (2023)
- [Improving Factuality and Reasoning in Language Models through Multiagent Debate](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14325/) (2023)
- [LaMDA: Language Models for Dialog Applications](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.08239/) (2022)
- [ExpeL: LLM Agents Are Experiential Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10144/) (2023)
- [CTRL: A Conditional Transformer Language Model for Controllable Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1909.05858/) (2019)
- [AlpacaFarm: A Simulation Framework for Methods that Learn from Human Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14387/) (2023)
- [Using Large Language Models to Simulate Multiple Humans and Replicate Human Subject Studies](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.10264/) (2022)
- [Closing the AI Accountability Gap: Defining an End-to-End Framework for Internal Algorithmic Auditing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.00973/) (2020)
- [SOTOPIA: Interactive Evaluation for Social Intelligence in Language Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.11667/) (2023)
- [News Summarization and Evaluation in the Era of GPT-3](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.12356/) (2022)
- [Demonstrate-Search-Predict: Composing retrieval and language models for knowledge-intensive NLP](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.14024/) (2022)
- [Social Simulacra: Creating Populated Prototypes for Social Computing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.04024/) (2022)
- [A note on the evaluation of generative models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.01844/) (2015)
- [Beyond Goldfish Memory: Long-Term Open-Domain Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.07567/) (2021)
- [Exploring Large Language Models for Communication Games: An Empirical Study on Werewolf](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.04658/) (2023)
- [Exploring Collaboration Mechanisms for LLM Agents: A Social Psychology View](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.02124/) (2023)
- [Marked Personas: Using Natural Language Prompts to Measure Stereotypes in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18189/) (2023)
- [BlenderBot 3: a deployed conversational agent that continually learns to responsibly engage](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.03188/) (2022)
- [On Second Thought, Let's Not Think Step by Step! Bias and Toxicity in Zero-Shot Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.08061/) (2022)
- [Re3: Generating Longer Stories With Recursive Reprompting and Revision](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.06774/) (2022)

## Built on by (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Survey of Cultural Awareness in Language Models: Text and Beyond](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.00860/) (2024)
- [From Individual to Society: A Survey on Social Simulation Driven by Large Language Model-based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03563/) (2024)
- [CulturePark: Boosting Cross-cultural Understanding in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.15145/) (2024)
- [PATIENT-Psi: Using Large Language Models to Simulate Patients for Training Mental Health Professionals](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.19660/) (2024)
- [Sentient Agent as a Judge: Evaluating Higher-Order Social Cognition in Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.02847/) (2025)
- [When Large Language Models are Reliable for Judging Empathic Communication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.10150/) (2025)
- [Dialogue Action Tokens: Steering Language Models in Goal-Directed Dialogue with a Multi-Turn Planner](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11978/) (2024)
- [Social Learning through Interactions with Other Agents: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.21713/) (2024)
- [ProMediate: A Socio-cognitive framework for evaluating proactive agents in multi-party negotiation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.25224/) (2025)
- [SNS-Bench-VL: Benchmarking Multimodal Large Language Models in Social Networking Services](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.23065/) (2025)
- [Reflections and New Directions for Human-Centered Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.06901/) (2026)
- [Can LLMs Think Like Consumers? Benchmarking Crowd-Level Reaction Reconstruction with ConsumerSimBench](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.17079/) (2026)
- [ExpertLens: Activation steering features are highly interpretable](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.15090/) (2025)
- [Is your multimodal large language model a good science tutor?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.06418/) (2025)
- [Reading Between The Lines: Modeling and Evaluating Behavioral Realism in Legal Simulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.13712/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

People rely on social skills like conflict resolution to communicate effectively and to thrive in both work and personal life. However, practice environments for social skills are typically out of reach for most people. How can we make social skill training more available, accessible, and inviting? Drawing upon interdisciplinary research from communication and psychology, this perspective paper identifies social skill barriers to enter specialized fields. Then we present a solution that leverages large language models for social skill training via a generic framework. Our AI Partner, AI Mentor framework merges experiential learning with realistic practice and tailored feedback. This work ultimately calls for cross-disciplinary innovation to address the broader implications for workforce development and social equality.