GENIUS: Generative Fluid Intelligence Evaluation Suite
This work addresses the need for better evaluation of dynamic reasoning in AI models, moving beyond knowledge-based benchmarks, though it is incremental as it focuses on assessment rather than new model development.
The paper tackles the problem of evaluating Generative Fluid Intelligence (GFI) in Unified Multimodal Models by introducing GENIUS, a benchmark that assesses capabilities like pattern induction and constraint execution, revealing significant performance deficits in 12 models and attributing failures to limited context comprehension.
Unified Multimodal Models (UMMs) have shown remarkable progress in visual generation. Yet, existing benchmarks predominantly assess $\textit{Crystallized Intelligence}$, which relies on recalling accumulated knowledge and learned schemas. This focus overlooks $\textit{Generative Fluid Intelligence (GFI)}$: the capacity to induce patterns, reason through constraints, and adapt to novel scenarios on the fly. To rigorously assess this capability, we introduce $\textbf{GENIUS}$ ($\textbf{GEN}$ Fluid $\textbf{I}$ntelligence Eval$\textbf{U}$ation $\textbf{S}$uite). We formalize $\textit{GFI}$ as a synthesis of three primitives. These include $\textit{Inducing Implicit Patterns}$ (e.g., inferring personalized visual preferences), $\textit{Executing Ad-hoc Constraints}$ (e.g., visualizing abstract metaphors), and $\textit{Adapting to Contextual Knowledge}$ (e.g., simulating counter-intuitive physics). Collectively, these primitives challenge models to solve problems grounded entirely in the immediate context. Our systematic evaluation of 12 representative models reveals significant performance deficits in these tasks. Crucially, our diagnostic analysis disentangles these failure modes. It demonstrates that deficits stem from limited context comprehension rather than insufficient intrinsic generative capability. To bridge this gap, we propose a training-free attention intervention strategy. Ultimately, $\textbf{GENIUS}$ establishes a rigorous standard for $\textit{GFI}$, guiding the field beyond knowledge utilization toward dynamic, general-purpose reasoning. Our dataset and code will be released at: $\href{https://github.com/arctanxarc/GENIUS}{https://github.com/arctanxarc/GENIUS}$.