Lune

ICML2026Top-tier venue

Probabilistic Modeling of Latent Agentic Substructures in Deep Neural Networks

Su Hyeong Lee, Risi Kondor, Richard Ngo

2026Year

Abstract

We develop a theory of intelligent agency grounded in probabilistic modeling for neural models. Agents are represented as outcome distributions with epistemic utility given by log score, and compositions are defined through weighted logarithmic pooling that strictly improves every member's welfare. We prove that strict unanimity is impossible under linear pooling or in binary outcome spaces, but possible with three or more outcomes. Our framework admits recursive structure via cloning invariance, continuity, and openness, while tilt-based analysis rules out trivial duplication. Finally, we formalize an agentic alignment phenomenon in LLMs using our theory: eliciting a benevolent persona ("Luigi'') induces an antagonistic counterpart ("Waluigi''), while a manifest-then-suppress Waluigi strategy yields strictly larger first-order misalignment reduction than pure Luigi reinforcement alone. These results clarify how developing a principled mathematical framework for how subagents can coalesce into coherent higher-level entities provides novel implications for alignment in agentic AI systems.

Ask about this paper

Your agent reads all of it.

Lune indexed this paper to the last equation, along with the top-tier papers that cite it. Ask a question and the answer quotes them.

Questions to start from

Your agent calls

Luneget_paper_fulltext

Ask in Lune

Free to start. No credit card required.

lune papers fulltext cfabb257-079b-4422-8ee5-549e242d5024

Builds on6

Related papers

Dusk over the sea between two cliffs drawn in fine vertical lines