# Proactive Conversational Agents with Inner Thoughts

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.00383 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.00383/

## Key facts

- Cited by 36 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 16 of its 71 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 31 Dec 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 16 of 16)

- [LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.09685/) (2021)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11366/) (2023)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10601/) (2023)
- [G-Eval: NLG Evaluation using GPT-4 with Better Human Alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.16634/) (2023)
- [Accuracy on the Line: On the Strong Correlation Between Out-of-Distribution and In-Distribution Generalization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.04649/) (2021)
- [Towards Conversational Recommendation over Multi-Type Dialogs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.03954/) (2020)
- [Target-Guided Open-Domain Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.11553/) (2019)
- [A Survey on Proactive Dialogue Systems: Problems, Methods, and Prospects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.02750/) (2023)
- [TurnGPT: a Transformer-based Language Model for Predicting Turn-taking in Spoken Dialog](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.10874/) (2020)
- [Multi-Party Chat: Conversational Agents in Group Settings with Humans and Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.13835/) (2023)
- [Learning to Ask Appropriate Questions in Conversational Recommendation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.04774/) (2021)
- [Turn-Taking Prediction for Natural Conversational Speech](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.13321/) (2022)
- [Asking Clarifying Questions Based on Negative Feedback in Conversational Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.05760/) (2021)
- [Learning Multi-Party Turn-Taking Models from Dialogue Logs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.02090/) (2019)

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 36)

- [ContextAgent: Context-Aware Proactive LLM Agents with Open-World Sensory Perceptions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.14668/) (2025)
- [Dive into Claude Code: The Design Space of Today's and Future AI Agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.14228/) (2026)
- [ProactiveVA: Proactive Visual Analytics with LLM-Based UI Agent](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.18165/) (2025)
- [Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI): Architectures, Taxonomies, and Evaluation of Large Language Model Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.12560/) (2026)
- [CoBRA: Programming Cognitive Bias in Social Agents Using Classic Social Science Experiments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.13588/) (2025)
- [Understanding, Protecting, and Augmenting Human Cognition with Generative AI: A Synthesis of the CHI 2025 Tools for Thought Workshop](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.21036/) (2025)
- [ProactiveMobile: A Comprehensive Benchmark for Boosting Proactive Intelligence on Mobile Devices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.21858/) (2026)
- [Interaction as Intelligence: Deep Research With Human-AI Partnership](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.15759/) (2025)
- [Conversational Agents as Catalysts for Critical Thinking: Challenging Social Influence in Group Decision-making](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.14263/) (2025)
- [ProMediate: A Socio-cognitive framework for evaluating proactive agents in multi-party negotiation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.25224/) (2025)
- [Does My Chatbot Have an Agenda? Understanding Human and AI Agency in Human-Human-like Chatbot Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.22452/) (2026)
- [SpeechLess: Micro-utterance with Personalized Spatial Memory-aware Assistant in Everyday Augmented Reality](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.00793/) (2026)
- [ProAct: Harnessing Streaming Motion Generation and Agentic Reasoning for Real-Time Embodied Social Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.14048/) (2026)
- [ProActor: Timing-Aware Reinforcement Learning for Proactive Task Scheduling Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.24900/) (2026)
- [Probing the Gaps in ChatGPT Live Video Chat for Real-World Assistance for People who are Blind or Visually Impaired](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.03651/) (2025)
- [DiscussLLM: Teaching Large Language Models When to Speak](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.18167/) (2025)
- [Humanlike Multi-user Agent (HUMA): Designing a Deceptively Human AI Facilitator for Group Chats](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.17315/) (2025)
- [PROPER Agents: Proactivity Driven Personalized Agents for Advancing Knowledge Gap Navigation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.09926/) (2026)
- [AI and My Values: User Perceptions of LLMs' Ability to Extract, Embody, and Explain Human Values from Casual Conversations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.22440/) (2026)
- [Knowing Isn't Understanding: Re-grounding Generative Proactivity with Epistemic and Behavioral Insight](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.15259/) (2026)
- [GROVE: Growing and Reasoning over Temporally Stratified Memory from Streaming Video Experience](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.02392/) (2026)
- [Botender: Supporting Communities in Collaboratively Designing AI Agents through Case-Based Provocations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.25492/) (2025)
- [Memento: Towards Proactive Visualization of Everyday Memories with Personal Wearable AR Assistant](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.17622/) (2026)
- [Help Without Being Asked: A Deployed Proactive Agent System for On-Call Support with Continuous Self-Improvement](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.09579/) (2026)
- [TIDE: Proactive Multi-Problem Discovery via Template-Guided Iteration](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.04743/) (2026)
- [A(I)nimism: Re-enchanting the World Through AI-Mediated Object Interaction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.25558/) (2025)
- [Exploring Learners' Expectations and Engagement When Collaborating with Constructively Controversial Peer Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.13479/) (2026)
- [A Motivational Architecture for Conversational AGI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.05411/) (2026)
- [SoCRATES: Towards Reliable Automated Evaluation of Proactive LLM Mediation across Domains and Socio-cognitive Variations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.05563/) (2026)
- [TIDES: A Longitudinal Bilingual Dataset for Modeling Multi-Party Social Dynamics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.01724/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

One of the long-standing aspirations in conversational AI is to allow them to autonomously take initiatives in conversations, i.e., being proactive. This is especially challenging for multi-party conversations. Prior NLP research focused mainly on predicting the next speaker from contexts like preceding conversations. In this paper, we demonstrate the limitations of such methods and rethink what it means for AI to be proactive in multi-party, human-AI conversations. We propose that just like humans, rather than merely reacting to turn-taking cues, a proactive AI formulates its own inner thoughts during a conversation, and seeks the right moment to contribute. Through a formative study with 24 participants and inspiration from linguistics and cognitive psychology, we introduce the Inner Thoughts framework. Our framework equips AI with a continuous, covert train of thoughts in parallel to the overt communication process, which enables it to proactively engage by modeling its intrinsic motivation to express these thoughts. We instantiated this framework into two real-time systems: an AI playground web app and a chatbot. Through a technical evaluation and user studies with human participants, our framework significantly surpasses existing baselines on aspects like anthropomorphism, coherence, intelligence, and turn-taking appropriateness.