# Instruct Large Language Models to Drive like Humans

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.07296 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.07296/

## Key facts

- Cited by 11 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 44 of its 45 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 11 Jun 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 44)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.09685/) (2021)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [RT-2: Vision-Language-Action Models Transfer Web Knowledge to Robotic Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.15818/) (2023)
- [Root Mean Square Layer Normalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.07467/) (2019)
- [BEVFormer: Learning Bird's-Eye-View Representation from Multi-Camera Images via Spatiotemporal Transformers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.17270/) (2022)
- [End to End Learning for Self-Driving Cars](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1604.07316/) (2016)
- [LLaMA-Adapter: Efficient Fine-tuning of Language Models with Zero-init Attention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.16199/) (2023)
- [LLaMA-Adapter V2: Parameter-Efficient Visual Instruction Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.15010/) (2023)
- [NuPlan: A closed-loop ML-based planning benchmark for autonomous vehicles](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.11810/) (2021)
- [End-to-end Driving via Conditional Imitation Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.02410/) (2017)
- [Tri-Perspective View for Vision-Based 3D Semantic Occupancy Prediction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.07817/) (2023)
- [GPT-Driver: Learning to Drive with GPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.01415/) (2023)
- [SurroundOcc: Multi-Camera 3D Occupancy Prediction for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.09551/) (2023)
- [LMDrive: Closed-Loop End-to-End Driving with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.07488/) (2023)
- [Ghost in the Minecraft: Generally Capable Agents for Open-World Environments via Large Language Models with Text-based Knowledge and Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.17144/) (2023)
- [End-to-end Interpretable Neural Motion Planner](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.06679/) (2021)
- [Parting with Misconceptions about Learning-based Vehicle Motion Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.07962/) (2023)
- [Is Ego Status All You Need for Open-Loop End-to-End Autonomous Driving?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.03031/) (2023)
- [FIERY: Future Instance Prediction in Bird's-Eye View from Surround Monocular Cameras](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.10490/) (2021)
- [Building Cooperative Embodied Agents Modularly with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.02485/) (2023)
- [Driving with LLMs: Fusing Object-Level Vector Modality for Explainable Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.01957/) (2023)
- [GenAD: Generative End-to-End Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.11502/) (2024)
- [MP3: A Unified Model to Map, Perceive, Predict and Plan](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.06806/) (2021)
- [BEVerse: Unified Perception and Prediction in Birds-Eye-View for Vision-Centric Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.09743/) (2022)
- [Rethinking the Open-Loop Evaluation of End-to-End Autonomous Driving in nuScenes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10430/) (2023)
- [LanguageMPC: Large Language Models as Decision Makers for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.03026/) (2023)
- [PnPNet: End-to-End Perception and Prediction with Tracking in the Loop](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.14711/) (2020)
- [GameFormer: Game-theoretic Modeling and Learning of Transformer-based Interactive Prediction and Planning for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.05760/) (2023)
- [Urban Driver: Learning to Drive from Real-world Demonstrations Using Policy Gradients](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.13333/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [ReCogDrive: A Reinforced Cognitive Framework for End-to-End Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.08052/) (2025)
- [A Survey on Vision-Language-Action Models for Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.24044/) (2025)
- [Doe-1: Closed-Loop Autonomous Driving with Large World Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.09627/) (2024)
- [FASIONAD : FAst and Slow FusION Thinking Systems for Human-Like Autonomous Driving with Adaptive Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.18013/) (2024)
- [Towards Interactive and Learnable Cooperative Driving Automation: a Large Language Model-Driven Decision-Making Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.12812/) (2024)
- [Enhance Multimodal Consistency and Coherence for Text-Image Plan Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.11380/) (2025)
- [EggHand: A Multimodal Foundation Model for Egocentric Hand Pose Forecasting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.07642/) (2026)
- [SciQu: Accelerating Materials Properties Prediction with Automated Literature Mining for Self-Driving Laboratories](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.08270/) (2024)
- [Align2Act: Instruction-Tuned Models for Human-Aligned Autonomous Driving](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.10503/) (2025)
- [UniPlanner: A Unified Motion Planning Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Decision-Making Systems via Multi-Dataset Integration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.24166/) (2025)
- [Mitigating Visual Degradation in MLLMs via Spatial-Spectral Visual Anchor Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.01635/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Motion planning in complex scenarios is the core challenge in autonomous driving. Conventional methods apply predefined rules or learn from driving data to plan the future trajectory. Recent methods seek the knowledge preserved in large language models (LLMs) and apply them in the driving scenarios. Despite the promising results, it is still unclear whether the LLM learns the underlying human logic to drive. In this paper, we propose an InstructDriver method to transform LLM into a motion planner with explicit instruction tuning to align its behavior with humans. We derive driving instruction data based on human logic (e.g., do not cause collisions) and traffic rules (e.g., proceed only when green lights). We then employ an interpretable InstructChain module to further reason the final planning reflecting the instructions. Our InstructDriver allows the injection of human rules and learning from driving data, enabling both interpretability and data scalability. Different from existing methods that experimented on closed-loop or simulated settings, we adopt the real-world closed-loop motion planning nuPlan benchmark for better evaluation. InstructDriver demonstrates the effectiveness of the LLM planner in a real-world closed-loop setting. Our code is publicly available at https://github.com/bonbon-rj/InstructDriver.