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MLLMs Mimic Human Perception of Bistable Images

Researchers have investigated whether multimodal large language models (MLLMs) exhibit human-like reporting behavior when presented with bistable images, such as the classic duck-rabbit illusion. Using the LLaVA family of models, the study explored how visual cues and linguistic priors influence model responses, finding that these factors systematically shift reports in ways consistent with human perception. The models also predominantly committed to a single interpretation, similar to humans, with internal computations involving competing image-token representations and distinct modulation pathways. AI

IMPACT Investigates how MLLMs process ambiguous visual information, potentially informing future model development for more nuanced perception.

RANK_REASON Academic paper detailing research on MLLM behavior with bistable images. [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 →

MLLMs Mimic Human Perception of Bistable Images

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Academic paper detailing research on MLLM behavior with bistable images. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=1.0]
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. arXiv cs.AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Ryota Takatsuki, Tomoki Doi, Amane Watahiki, Anil K. Seth, Hitomi Yanaka ·

    (How) Do MLLMs Report Bistable Images Like Humans?

    arXiv:2609.13254v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Bistable images such as the duck-rabbit are classic stimuli in which one image supports multiple mutually incompatible interpretations, typically reported one at a time in humans. We ask whether multimodal large language models (M…