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答案正确,推理错误:准确率、一致性和共识是临床决策支持中 LLM 忠实度的误导性指标
该 arXiv 论文提出三个轻量可解释指标衡量临床 LLM 的忠实度缺口:Explanation Stability Index(ESI,重复查询下的推理一致性)、Causal Faithfulness Score(CFS,通过概念消融检验被引用概念是否真正驱动预测)、Perturbation Stability Score(PSS,语义保持改写下的鲁棒性)。在 6 个 LLM、150 道 MedQA-USMLE 题(900 次模型-问题观测)上,仅 23.3% 被引用临床概念具有因果必要性;正确答案的 CFS 低于错误答案(0.212 vs 0.398);答案一致性与 CFS 负相关(Spearman r=-0.466);模型对之间答案一致时仅共享 8.8% 的推理概念。作者指出准确率、一致性和共识是不完整的临床决策支持安全信号,并说明证据为行为层面(概念消融测试输出的反事实敏感性),而非内部机制。
AI推荐理由 arXiv 论文,提出 ESI、CFS、PSS 三个可解释指标,在 150 道 MedQA-USMLE 题、6 个 LLM 共 900 次观测上量化临床 LLM 的忠实度缺口:仅 23.3% 被引用临床概念具有因果必要性,正确答案的 CFS 反而低于错误答案(0.212 vs 0.398),答案一致性与 CFS 负相关(Spearman r=-0.466),模型间答案一致时仅共享 8.8% 的推理概念。作者明确说明证据是行为层面的概念消融反事实敏感性,而非内部机制,因此结论限于临床决策支持场景,不能外推为通用 LLM 忠实度结论。
78
正文
Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence
arXiv:2609.32817 (cs)
[Submitted on 26 Sep 2026]
Title:Right Answer, Wrong Reason: Accuracy, Consistency, and Consensus Are Misleading Indicators of LLM Faithfulness in Clinical Decision Support
Authors:Bharath Kumar Bolla, Bharath Kumar Bolla, Vishnu Surya Reddy Nandi
View a PDF of the paper titled Right Answer, Wrong Reason: Accuracy, Consistency, and Consensus Are Misleading Indicators of LLM Faithfulness in Clinical Decision Support, by Bharath Kumar Bolla and 1 other authors
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Abstract:Clinical Large Language Models (LLMs) achieve strong medical-exam accuracy; however, a correct answer does not guarantee that the explanation names the concepts that actually drove the decision. We introduce three lightweight, directly interpretable metrics for this faithfulness gap: the Explanation Stability Index (ESI), which measures reasoning consistency across repeated queries; the Causal Faithfulness Score (CFS), which tests whether cited concepts drive predictions via concept ablation; and the Perturbation Stability Score (PSS), which measures robustness to semantic-preserving paraphrases. By evaluating six LLMs on 150 MedQA-USMLE questions (900 model-question observations), we found that only 23.3% of the cited clinical concepts were causally necessary. Correct answers had lower CFS than incorrect answers (0.212 vs. 0.398), answer consistency negatively predicted CFS (Spearman r = -0.466), and model pairs could agree on answers while sharing only 8.8% of cited reasoning concepts. These results show that accuracy, consistency, and consensus are incomplete safety signals for clinical decision-making support. The evidence is behavioral rather than mechanistic: concept ablation tests counterfactual sensitivity of outputs, not internal circuits.
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Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)
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arXiv:2609.32817 [cs.AI]
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arXiv:2609.32817v1 [cs.AI] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.32817
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From: Vishnu Surya Reddy Nandi [view email]
[v1]
Sat, 26 Sep 2026 17:44:22 UTC (619 KB)
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