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LLMs struggle with minimal responses in counseling dialogues, study finds

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

A new study published on arXiv investigates the use of minimal responses in counseling dialogues and how Large Language Models (LLMs) handle them. Researchers found that while minimal responses like brief empathic statements are crucial for effective human counseling, current LLMs underrepresent them in generated dialogues. Although LLMs can produce minimal responses when prompted, they struggle with determining the appropriate context for their use. Furthermore, LLM-based evaluation metrics may undervalue these interactionally appropriate, concise utterances. AI

IMPACT Highlights limitations in LLM's ability to replicate nuanced human interaction, suggesting areas for improvement in therapeutic AI applications.

RANK_REASON Research paper published on arXiv detailing empirical study of LLM behavior. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]

Read on arXiv cs.AI →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

LLMs struggle with minimal responses in counseling dialogues, study finds

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Research paper published on arXiv detailing empirical study of LLM behavior. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. arXiv cs.AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Zhiyang Qi ·

    When Less Is More: An Empirical Study of Minimal Responses in Counseling Dialogues and the Behavior of LLMs

    arXiv:2608.24080v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: In psychological counseling, effective support is not always delivered through long, information-rich responses. Minimal responses, such as backchannel cues and concise empathic statements, help convey attentive listening, express…

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