Moving Beyond Next-Token Prediction: Transformers are Context-Sensitive Language Generators
Large Language Models (LLMs), powered by Transformers, have demonstrated human-like intelligence capabilities, yet their underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. This paper presents a novel framework for interpreting LLMs as probabilistic left context-sensitive languages (CSLs) generators. We hypothesize that Transformers can be effectively decomposed into three fundamental components: context windows, attention mechanisms, and autoregressive generation frameworks. This decomposition allows for the development of more flexible and interpretable computational models, moving beyond the traditional view of attention and autoregression as inseparable processes. We argue that next-token predictions can be understood as probabilistic, dynamic approximations of left CSL production rules, providing an intuitive explanation for how simple token predictions can yield human-like intelligence outputs. Given that all CSLs are left context-sensitive (Penttonen, 1974), we conclude that Transformers stochastically approximate CSLs, which are widely recognized as models of human-like intelligence. This interpretation bridges the gap between Formal Language Theory and the observed generative power of Transformers, laying a foundation for future advancements in generative AI theory and applications. Our novel perspective on Transformer architectures will foster a deeper understanding of LLMs and their future potentials.
Code (0)
등록된 구현이 없습니다.
Methods 이 논문이 사용한 방법론
Similar Papers 제목 키워드 기반
Transformers represent belief state geometry in their residual stream
What computational structure are we building into large language models when we train them on next-token prediction? Here, we present evidence that this structure is given by the meta-dynamics of belief updating over hid…
PredictionTopic-aware Contextualized Transformers
Training on disjoint fixed-length segments, Transformers successfully transform static word embeddings into contextualized word representations. However, they often restrict the context of a token to the segment it resid…
Word EmbeddingsTransformers Can Navigate Mazes With Multi-Step Prediction
Despite their remarkable success in language modeling, transformers trained to predict the next token in a sequence struggle with long-term planning. This limitation is particularly evident in tasks requiring foresight t…
GPULanguage ModelingLanguage ModellingNavigate+1Next-Latent Prediction Transformers Learn Compact World Models
Transformers replace recurrence with a memory that grows with sequence length and self-attention that enables ad-hoc lookups over past tokens. Consequently, they lack an inherent incentive to compress history into compac…
Causal Evidence of Stack Representations in Modeling Counter Languages Using Transformers
Formal languages have proven to be effective conduits to understand the inner mechanisms of transformers. Past work has shown that transformers trained on next token prediction over counter languages learn representation…