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LVLMs struggle with implicit communication, new studies show

By PulseAugur Editorial · [3 sources] ·

Two recent studies on Large Vision-Language Models (LVLMs) in referential communication have yielded conflicting results regarding their ability to coordinate efficient referring expressions. One paper, by Jones et al., suggests that LVLMs can coordinate efficiently when explicitly prompted, but fail to infer this need from implicit prompts. Another paper, by Zeng et al., indicates that LVLMs struggle with interactive generation and resolution of referring expressions, highlighting a deficit in modeling common ground crucial for human-like collaboration. Both studies utilize referential communication experiments to explore these differences. AI

RANK_REASON Two academic papers published on arXiv detailing research into LVLM communication capabilities.

Read on arXiv cs.AI →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 3 sources. How we write summaries →

LVLMs struggle with implicit communication, new studies show

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COVERAGE [3]

  1. arXiv cs.AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Peter Zeng, Amie J. Paige, Weiling Li, Susan E. Brennan, Owen Rambow, Cameron R. Jones ·

    Implicit vs. Explicit Prompting Strategies for LVLMs in Referential Communication

    arXiv:2606.17372v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Two recent studies (Jones et al. (2026); Zeng et al. (2026)) reach apparently contradictory conclusions about whether LVLMs can coordinate on efficient referring expressions. We control for task differences between the studies whi…

  2. arXiv cs.AI TIER_1 English(EN) · Peter Zeng, Weiling Li, Amie Paige, Zhengxiang Wang, Panagiotis Kaliosis, Dimitris Samaras, Gregory Zelinsky, Susan Brennan, Owen Rambow ·

    LVLMs and Humans Ground Differently in Referential Communication

    arXiv:2601.19792v4 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: For generative AI agents to partner effectively with human users, the ability to accurately predict human intent is critical. But this ability to collaborate remains limited by a critical deficit: an inability to model com…

  3. arXiv cs.CL TIER_1 English(EN) · Cameron R. Jones ·

    Implicit vs. Explicit Prompting Strategies for LVLMs in Referential Communication

    Two recent studies (Jones et al. (2026); Zeng et al. (2026)) reach apparently contradictory conclusions about whether LVLMs can coordinate on efficient referring expressions. We control for task differences between the studies while directly comparing their prompting styles. We r…

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