Abstention

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8 papers in the last four weeks, level with the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

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  1. Audit-First VAPO: Risk-Certified Selective Updates under Imperfect Verification

    Sep 27, 2026Miaobo Hu, Shuhao Hu, Xiaobo Guo +5Finite-Sample CertificatesModel Auditing

    School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China · Institute of Information Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

  2. The Commit-Abstain Circuit: Why Language Models Hallucinate Instead of Abstaining

    Sep 26, 2026Vy Nguyen, Ziqi Xu, Jeffrey Chan +5Large Language Model HallucinationAbstention

    RMIT University · Jilin University · Nanyang Technological University

  3. Certified Against Which Oracle? Execution Labels Set the Reported Risk of Conformal Abstention for Text-to-SQL

    Sep 22, 2026Jiamiao Liu, Dewen Qiao, Yu Zhang +1OraclesText-To-Sql

    Department of Information, Xinqiao Hospital Army Medical University (Third Military Medical University) Chongqing 400037, China

  4. Abstention and Noise Filtering: Two Missing Primitives of Softmax Attention

    Sep 18, 2026Richard Zhe WangGumbel-Softmax RelaxationGating

    St. John Fisher University, Rochester, New York, USA.

  5. Selection Is Retrieval, Abstention Is Not: On-Device Tool Routing over 70 Korean-English Actions

    Sep 16, 2026Janghoon LeeLarge Language Model RoutingArtificial Intelligence Assistants

    Redrob

  6. The Missing "I Don't Know": Why Three Reasoning-Reliability Findings Converge on Calibrated Abstention

    Sep 15, 2026Srijith RavikumarLarge Language Model ReliabilityAbstention

    Amazon.com LLC

  7. When Should LLMs Abstain? Chain-of-Self-Questioning for Selective Risk Control

    Sep 15, 2026Ali ŞenolAbstentionCommitment

    Department of Computer Engineering, Tarsus University, Tarsus, Türkiye

  8. A decision-basis contract for auditable LLM-assisted medical billing verification: deterministic rules, verbatim evidence, and fail-closed abstention

    Sep 14, 2026Jan Hölter, Kevin Geis, Benjamin Raab +1Clinical Decision SupportCategory-Aware Atomic Claims

    Competence Center Artificial Intelligence, Aschaffenburg University of Applied Sciences, Würzburger Straße 45, Aschaffenburg, 63743, Bavaria, Germany.

  9. Learning Evidence Sufficiency Boundaries for Selective Answering in Grounded Multi-Hop QA

    Sep 1, 2026Haruto Sato, Yuki Tanaka, Ren Nakamura +2Evidence-Grounded QuestionsMulti-Hop Reasoning

    Independent Researcher

  10. GPAgentBench-2K: Benchmarking Large Language Model Agents in Complex Clinical Action Space

    Aug 31, 2026Boqi Chen, Xudong Liu, Yunke Ao +2Large Language Model AgentsClinical Reasoning Training

    ETH Zurich · MBZUAI · University of Toronto

  11. Compression-Aware Abstention: Teaching LLMs to Refuse When KV-Compression Masks Remove Answer Evidence

    Aug 30, 2026Mohammadali Khodabandehlou, Bhaskar KrishnamachariLLM Inference OptimizationLarge Language Model Hallucination

    University of Southern California

  12. Verifiable abstention makes AI leak diagnosis accountable in urban water distribution networks

    Aug 19, 2026Tianwei Mu, Yue Wang, Mingzhe Yuan +8LeakageModel Auditing

    School of Municipal Engineering and Environment, Shenyang Jianzhu University, Shenyang 110168, China. · Guangzhou Institute of Industrial Intelligence, Guangzhou 510000, China. · Key Laboratory of Ecological Restoration of Regional Contaminated Environment, Ministry of Education, College of Environment, Shenyang University, Shenyang 110044, China. +3

  13. TRAPSBench: Vision-Language Models Encode but Fail to Express Epistemic Restraint

    Aug 13, 2026Fnu Pramono, John Cai, Sourabh KulkarniVisual EvidenceAbstention

    Meta Superintelligence Labs · Reflection AI

  14. Governed Persistent Memory: Source-Bound State Semantics and Fail-Closed Release for Long-Horizon Agents

    Aug 12, 2026Guodong XuLong-Term Agent MemoryAdmissibility

    Qingdao Guodongxiansheng Network Technology Co., Ltd. (Guˇodòng Xi¯ansheng)

  15. Retry, Switch, or Abstain? Learning Strategy-Aware Tool-Use Policies via Controlled Error Injection

    Aug 12, 2026Chaoran Chen, Vy Nguyen, Ziji Zhang +7RetryingControlling Tool Use

    Amazon

  16. Business Truth, not SQL Accuracy: A Rule-Gated 7B Analytics Agent Outperforms a Direct-Prompted 32B Baseline

    Aug 10, 2026Morris LeeData Science AgentsAnswer

    Independent Researcher

  17. REIN: Bridging the Gap between Reasoning and Reliability via Reflection and Abstention Alignment

    Aug 8, 2026Zhengze Huang, Luyang Yu, Di Hong +5Large Reasoning ModelsAbstention

    The State Key Laboratory of Blockchain and Data Security, Zhejiang University · Fudan University · The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

  18. Runtime Observability for Heterogeneous Attention Memory

    Aug 6, 2026Fanzhe Wei, Li Liu, Ziyang Wang +1Cryptographic Merkle Tree CommitmentsKey-Value Cache

    Metask Lab

  19. Evidential Rule Learning for Interpretable Classification with Abstention

    Aug 6, 2026Javier Fumanal-Idocin, Javier Andreu-PerezEvidential UncertaintyInterpretability

    School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering University of Essex, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK

  20. CARGO-VL: Counterfactual Arbitration with Risk-Constrained Group Optimization for Vision-Language Models

    Aug 5, 2026De Jiang, Zhengyang Zhang, Kehong Yuan +1ArbitrationModalities

  21. HopRefusalBench: Diagnosing Refusal Failures in Search-Augmented Agents for Multi-Hop Reasoning

    Aug 2, 2026Jianan Xie, Xin Sun, Zhongqi Chen +3Search AgentsMulti-Hop Reasoning

    ShanghaiTech University · NLPR, MAIS, CASIA · Ant Group

  22. Abstention as an Action Can Kill Both the Reward Gradient and the KL Anchor: Collapse Law and Repair for Error-Penalized Reinforcement Learning

    Jul 31, 2026Xujun Che, Yuchen Yuan, Weida Zhao +1Reward GradientsAbstention

    Department of Cybersecurity, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA · Department of Information Sciences and Technology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA · Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA +1

  23. TwistedMerge: Certified Higher-Order Diagnostics and Abstention for Model Merging

    Jul 23, 2026Ting Gong, Shitan XuContinual Model MergingMerge

    Department of Mathematics, University of Washington, Box 354350, Seattle, WA 98195-4350, USA · Beijing International Center for Mathematical Research, Peking University, No. 5 Yiheyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, P.R. China

  24. Move First, Commit Later: Selective LiDAR-to-BIM Global Initialization via Sequential Consensus with Symmetry-Aware Abstention

    Jul 19, 2026Yujie Zhang, Yuxuan Guo, Jiashuo Zheng +3LidarImage Registration

    School of Mechanical Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China

  25. To Answer or to Abstain: Mitigating Search-Agent Hallucinations via Abstention-Aware Reinforcement Learning

    Jul 12, 2026Fengji Zhang, Tianyu Fan, Yuxiang Zheng +4Abstention

    City University of Hong Kong · Alibaba Group

  26. AgentAbstain: Do LLM Agents Know When Not to Act?

    Jul 11, 2026Xun Liu, Yi Evie Zhang, Vira Kasprova +5Large Language Model AgentsLanguage-Model Agents

    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  27. Uncertainty-Aware Abstention in Large Language Models with Provable Alignment Guarantees

    Jul 5, 2026Sijin Dong, Hiroyuki ShinnouLarge Language Model UncertaintyUncertainty Score

    1Ibaraki University, Japan.

  28. Double-Helix Active Geometry: LiDAR-Anchored Multi-View Depth with Selective Abstention

    Jun 28, 2026Jinwen WenDepth EstimationVisual-Inertial Systems

    Independent Researcher

  29. Reported Confidence in LLMs Tracks Commitment More Than Correctness

    Jun 28, 2026Dharshan KumaranLarge Language Model ReliabilityCorrectness

    Google DeepMind

  30. Bayesian Best-Arm Identification with Abstention: A Polynomial-to-Exponential Phase Transition

    Jun 28, 2026Yuqi Huang, Yunlong Hou, Vincent Y. F. TanBayesianToken Budget Allocation

    Department of Mathematics, National University of Singapore · Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore

  31. Agentic Abstention: Do Agents Know When to Stop Instead of Act?

    Jun 27, 2026Han Luo, Bingbing Wen, Lucy Lu WangLanguage-Model AgentsAbstention

    University of Leeds · Southwest Jiaotong University · University of Washington +1

  32. The Clinician's Veto: Navigating Trust, Liability, and Uncertainty in Autonomous AI Prescribing

    Jun 23, 2026Eileanor LaRocco, Sarah Tan, Adarsh Subbaswamy +4Medication LeafletClinician Trust

    University of Virginia · Cornell University · University of Maryland, Baltimore +1

  33. Grad Detect: Gradient-Based Hallucination Detection in LLMs

    Jun 23, 2026Anand Kamat, Daniel Blake, Brent M. WernessLarge Language Model HallucinationHallucination Detection

    Amazon

  34. From Forecasting Leaderboards to Deployment Decisions: A Fail-Closed Certification Protocol

    Jun 23, 2026Geumyoung KimCertificationLeaderboard

    Chungbuk National University

  35. EARS: Explanatory Abstention for Reliable Sub-Agent Modeling in Large-scale Multi-Agent Systems

    Jun 17, 2026Shuang Xie, Yunan Lu, Han Li +1Enterprise SystemsAbstention

    Shopify · Columbia University

  36. Abstention-Aware Personalized Object Rearrangement via Uncertainty-Guided LLM Assistance

    Jun 15, 2026Sam Collin, Ali AyubConceptual ReorganizationAffordances

    Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada

  37. Look Again Before You Abstain:Budgeted Conformal Evidence Acquisition for Reliable Vision-Language Model

    Jun 15, 2026Jian Xu, Delu Zeng, John Paisley +1Recent Vision-Language ModelsVisual Evidence

    RIKEN iTHEMS · RIKEN AIP · South China University of Technology +1

  38. SICI: A Semantic-Pragmatic Complexity Index Reveals Regime Shifts in LLM Stance Detection

    Jun 11, 2026Fuqiang Niu, Bowen ZhangCross-Topic Arabic Stance DetectionStructural Complexity

    School of Cyber Science and Technology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China · School of Artificial Intelligence, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen, China

  39. Repair Before Veto, When Repair Is Hidden: Quantum-Accessible Features for Repair-Augmented Constraint Learning

    Jun 6, 2026Yifan WangQuantum LearningQuantum Error Correction

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, QC, H3A 2T7, Canada

  40. TOPSIS-RAD: Ranking According to Desires

    Jun 5, 2026Leonardo Fernandes Costa, Helder Gomes Costa, Diogo Lima +1RankingDesiderata

    Universidade Federal Fluminense Rua Passos da Pátria, 156 Niterói, RJ, Brazil, CEP 24.220-045 · Leonardo Sistemas Consultoria LTDA Av. Albert0 Lamego, 405 Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, 28016-811, Brazil · Rua Passos da Pátria, 156 Niterói, RJ, Brazil, CEP 24.220-045

  41. CARVE-Q: Quantum-Proposed, Classically Certified Interactive Driving Repair

    Jun 3, 2026Yifan WangPost-Quantum CryptographyRepair

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University · QC, H3A 2T7, Canada

  42. What Benchmarks Don't Measure: The Case for Evaluating Abstention Competence in Autonomous Agents

    Jun 1, 2026Victor Ojewale, Suresh VenkatasubramanianAgentic EvaluationsAutonomous Agents

    Brown University Providence, Rhode Island, USA

  43. Repair Before Veto: Repair-Augmented Constraint Learning for Contextual Decisions

    Jun 1, 2026Yifan WangRepairUncoupled Learning

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, QC, H3A 2T7, Canada

  44. CARVE: Certified Affordable Repair of Vetoed Maneuvers via Envelopes for Interactive Driving

    May 31, 2026Yifan WangHuman DrivingReachability

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, QC, H3A 2T7, Canada

  45. AbstainGNN: Teaching Graph Neural Networks to Abstain for Graph Classification

    May 29, 2026Xixun Lin, Zhiheng Zhou, Zhengyin Zhang +9Graph Neural NetworksAbstention

    Institute of Information Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences · School of Mathematics and Statistics, Shandong University · China University of Mining and Technology-Beijing +6

  46. BOKBO (Best of K Bad Options): Calibrated Abstention for VLA Policies

    May 28, 2026Anya Singh, Cabrel Happi, Jai Relan +2AbstentionBad

    Relling Systems

  47. Auditable Decision Models with Learned Abstention and Real-Time Steering

    May 26, 2026Sankaranarayanan Palamadai ChandrasekaranArtificial Intelligence SystemsAbstention

    Simple Machine Mind

  48. Clarify, Abstain or Answer? Strategising in Conversation with Belief-Augmented Generation

    May 25, 2026Joris Baan, Wilker Aziz, Barbara Plank +1ClarificationConversational Context

    University of Amsterdam · LMU Munich · European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Brussels

  49. Agreement Metrics for LLM-as-Judge Evaluation: What to Report and Why

    May 25, 2026Delip Rao, Chris Callison-BurchLarge Language Model JudgesJudgement

    University of Pennsylvania

  50. Second Guess: Detecting Uncertainty Through Abstention and Answer Stability in Small Language Models

    May 25, 2026Ashwath Vaithinathan Aravindan, Mayank KejriwalLarge Language Model UncertaintyMultiple-Choice Questions

    University of Southern California Los Angeles, 90007, California, United States of America · Information Sciences Institute 4676 Admiralty Way #1001, Los Angeles, 90292, California, United States of America

  51. Interpretation, Learning, and Empathy as One Constraint: A Residual-Adequacy Architecture with Accountable Abstention

    May 24, 2026Chainarong AmornbunchornvejAbstentionAbductive Reasoning

    National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), 112 Phahonyothin Road, Khlong Nueng, Khlong Luang, Pathum Thani 12120, Thailand

  52. The Yes-Man Syndrome: Benchmarking Abstention in Embodied Robotic Agents

    May 19, 2026Doguhan Yeke, Elif Su Temirel, Ananth Shreekumar +3Abstention

    Purdue University · Bilkent University · Work performed while an intern at Purdue University.

  53. Knowing When Not to Predict: Self Supervised Learning and Abstention for Safer DR Screening

    May 18, 2026Muskaan Chopra, Lorenz Sparrenberg, Jan H. Terheyden +1Self-Supervised LearningScreening

    Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany · Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Germany · University Hospital Bonn - Department of Ophthalmology, Germany +1

  54. Scale-Dependent Collective Adaptation in Self-Amending LLM Societies: A Cross-Family Study of Emergent Governance

    May 17, 2026Kazuya Horibe, Masaomi Hatakeyama, Gen Masumoto +2ConformityAbstention

    Center for Brain Science, RIKEN. · Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich. · Information R&D and Strategy Headquarters. +3

  55. Task Abstention for Large Language Models in Code Generation

    May 16, 2026Yanke Zhou, Yuhao Tan, Senrong Xu +4Code GenerationLarge Language Model Generation

    State Key Laboratory of Novel Software Technology Nanjing University · School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences University of London

  56. Fair and Calibrated Toxicity Detection with Robust Training and Abstention

    May 13, 2026Mokshit SuranaToxicityAlgorithmic Fairness

    University of Illinois Chicago

  57. Trust or Abstain? A Self-Aware RAG Approach

    May 11, 2026Xi Zhu, Ziqi Wang, Kai Mei +5Large Language Model ReliabilityLarge Language Model Backbones

    Rutgers University · University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  58. CHASE: Competing Hypotheses for Ambiguity-Aware Selective Prediction

    May 2, 2026Kartik Jhawar, Yuhao Geng, Atul N. Parikh +1AmbiguityAbstention

    Institute for Digital Molecular Analytics and Science, NTU, Singapore 636921 · School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, NTU, Singapore 639798 · School of Materials Science and Engineering, NTU, Singapore 639798 +1

  59. Geometry-Calibrated Conformal Abstention for Language Models

    Apr 30, 2026Rui Xu, Yi Chen, Sihong Xie +1AbstentionConfidence Calibration

    Information Hub, AI Thrust Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

  60. Knowing When to Quit: A Principled Framework for Dynamic Abstention in LLM Reasoning

    Apr 20, 2026Hen Davidov, Nachshon Cohen, Oren Kalinsky +4LLM Reasoning StrategiesAbstention

    University of Oxford. Work done partly during an internship at amazon. · 2Amazon.