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Large Language Models and Emergence: A Complex Systems Perspective (arxiv.org)
2 points by mathgenius on Jun 17, 2025 | hide | past | pdf | discuss on HN

In plain words: Emergence is when many simple parts create new, higher-level behavior describable with simpler variables; intelligence is using new skills ever more cheaply and quickly to solve problems. The review checks how emergence in large language models is measured and whether they show emergent intelligence.

Abstract

Emergence is a concept in complexity science that describes how many-body systems manifest novel higher-level properties, properties that can be described by replacing high-dimensional mechanisms with lower-dimensional effective variables and theories. This is captured by the idea "more is different". Intelligence is a consummate emergent property manifesting increasingly efficient -- cheaper and faster -- uses of emergent capabilities to solve problems. This is captured by the idea "less is more". In this paper, we first examine claims that Large Language Models exhibit emergent capabilities, reviewing several approaches to quantifying emergence, and secondly ask whether LLMs possess emergent intelligence.

David C. Krakauer, John W. Krakauer, Melanie Mitchell
arXiv:2506.11135 · cs.CL, cs.AI, cs.LG, cs.NE · submitted Jun 10, 2025
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