Hongjin Kim

Hongjin Kim, Jeonghyun Kang, Harksoo Kim

This study addresses critical gaps in Automated Essay Scoring (AES) systems and Large Language Models (LLMs) with regard to their ability to effectively identify and score harmful essays. Despite advancements in AES technology, current models often overlook ethically and morally problematic elements within essays, erroneously assigning high scores to essays that may propagate harmful opinions. In this study, we introduce the Harmful Essay Detection (HED) benchmark, which includes essays integrating sensitive topics such as racism and gender bias, to test the efficacy of various LLMs in recognizing and scoring harmful content. Our findings reveal that: (1) LLMs require further enhancement to accurately distinguish between harmful and argumentative essays, and (2) both current AES models and LLMs fail to consider the ethical dimensions of content during scoring. The study underscores the need for developing more robust AES systems that are sensitive to the ethical implications of the content they are scoring.

Kyubeen Han, Junseo Jang, Hongjin Kim et al.

Instruction-tuning enhances the ability of large language models (LLMs) to follow user instructions more accurately, improving usability while reducing harmful outputs. However, this process may increase the model's dependence on user input, potentially leading to the unfiltered acceptance of misinformation and the generation of hallucinations. Existing studies primarily highlight that LLMs are receptive to external information that contradict their parametric knowledge, but little research has been conducted on the direct impact of instruction-tuning on this phenomenon. In our study, we investigate the impact of instruction-tuning on LLM's susceptibility to misinformation. Our analysis reveals that instruction-tuned LLMs are significantly more likely to accept misinformation when it is presented by the user. A comparison with base models shows that instruction-tuning increases reliance on user-provided information, shifting susceptibility from the assistant role to the user role. Furthermore, we explore additional factors influencing misinformation susceptibility, such as the role of the user in prompt structure, misinformation length, and the presence of warnings in the system prompt. Our findings underscore the need for systematic approaches to mitigate unintended consequences of instruction-tuning and enhance the reliability of LLMs in real-world applications.