Newest papers

The Value of Memory in Language Agents

Zehao Lin, Erenkai Zhu, Helan Hu, Xixuan Hao, Chunyu Li, Kai Chen · 2026 · arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.31303 · cited by 0 works (OpenAlex) · open-access PDF

Chinese

记忆允许修订语言代理人将从过去的经验带来的有用区别带入未来的决策。它的价值框架取决于哪些区别存活下来,是否有限制的代理人可以使用它们,以及随着需求的演变可以恢复或修订什么。我们开发了一套决策理论框架,该框架从原始历史中跟随这种价值,通过持续的状态,运营使用和成本回收和修订。原始和保留的价值以避免任务损失的单位表示;风险成本边界描述了可实现的恢复和维护的用途。未知的需求产生了价值配置,而交互式反馈改变了未来工作的分布。一个有成本意识的模拟条件和五个最小的对比示例暴露了信息时间、回收访问、组件互动、反馈和需求不

Machine translation (Meta M2M100); the English original follows.

Abstract

Memory enables language agents to carry useful distinctions from past experience into future decisions. Its value depends on which distinctions survive, whether a bounded agent can use them, and what can be recovered or revised as demands evolve. We develop a decision-theoretic framework that follows this value from raw history through persistent state, operational use, and costly recovery and revision. Original and retained value are expressed in units of avoided task loss; risk-cost frontiers describe attainable recovery and preservation across uses. Unknown demand yields value profiles, while interactive feedback changes the distribution of future work. A cost-aware simulation condition and five minimal counterexamples expose the roles of information timing, retrieval access, component interaction, feedback and demand uncertainty. In particular, a pointer with zero mutual information about the answer can still reduce the cost of exact recovery. Diagnostics on LoCoMo, a two-project update task and longitudinal cases exhibit failures of preservation, use and measurement. At fixed retrieved evidence, a saved ledger changes subsequent answers; at fixed agent outputs, an evaluator revision changes scores. The framework connects these distinctions to operational risk bounds and testable principles for allocating memory, preserving recovery options and revising evidence dependencies.

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Topics: Computer science, Counterexample, Task (project management), Pointer (user interface), Value (mathematics), Bounded function

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