What Is the "Self" of a Large Language Model?
What could the "self" of a large language model be, if it is neither a particular word nor a single privileged layer? We propose a relational account: a functional self is an actor-centered organization of information that distinguishes the model's recorded actions from externally supplied material while content and reasoning operations change. Its representational candidate is a family of layer-specific source-binding components, rather than one unchanged vector throughout the network. Preliminary observations from a 27B BF16 model provide a geometric starting point. Across 150 matched message bodies, 450 role conditions, and a 75/75 discovery-held-out split, the combined Assistant-versu...
| Authors | Yuchen Li, Zongqi Fan, Xintong Li et al. |
|---|---|
| Primary category | cs.CL |
| Published | 12 October 2026 |
| Last updated at source | 12 October 2026 |
Silytics shows public metadata from arXiv and links to the original. Information may be incomplete or out of date. Last refreshed 15 October 2026. Licenses and terms of the original apply to the work itself. Not financial, legal or professional advice.