Evaluating the Effects of Prompt Perturbation on Bias and Hallucination in Large Language Models

arXiv cs.CL Papers

Summary

This arXiv paper evaluates how prompt perturbations affect bias and hallucination in LLMs used for decision-making tasks, finding that perturbations can mitigate these issues in some models, with Claude 3 outperforming GPT-3.5 across most datasets.

arXiv:2609.35804v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) have shown remarkable capabilities in various natural language processing tasks, leading to their widespread deployment as intelligent assistants in decision-making contexts. However, the increasing complexity of these models raises concerns about their reliability, particularly regarding bias and hallucination. In this work, we evaluate the robustness of LLMs to perturbed variations of the original inquiry in decision-making tasks. We show that contrary to previous studies, perturbations can mitigate bias and hallucination in some LLMs over other models. It's found that Claude 3 is more effective for the tasks represented in most datasets, whereas models like GPT3.5 exhibit varying levels of adequacy, performing comparably in some cases but falling significantly behind in others. These insights are crucial for understanding the practical implications of deploying LLM-based assistants as effective decision-support tools in real-world applications, emphasising the need for rigorous testing and validation to ensure reliability and effectiveness. This study contributes to the growing body of research on LLM evaluation and provides insights for developing more robust and trustworthy AI assistants in critical decision-making contexts.
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# Evaluating the Effects of Prompt Perturbation on Bias and Hallucination in Large Language Models
Source: [https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.35804](https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.35804)
[View PDF](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.35804)

> Abstract:Large language models \(LLMs\) have shown remarkable capabilities in various natural language processing tasks, leading to their widespread deployment as intelligent assistants in decision\-making contexts\. However, the increasing complexity of these models raises concerns about their reliability, particularly regarding bias and hallucination\. In this work, we evaluate the robustness of LLMs to perturbed variations of the original inquiry in decision\-making tasks\. We show that contrary to previous studies, perturbations can mitigate bias and hallucination in some LLMs over other models\. It's found that Claude 3 is more effective for the tasks represented in most datasets, whereas models like GPT3\.5 exhibit varying levels of adequacy, performing comparably in some cases but falling significantly behind in others\. These insights are crucial for understanding the practical implications of deploying LLM\-based assistants as effective decision\-support tools in real\-world applications, emphasising the need for rigorous testing and validation to ensure reliability and effectiveness\. This study contributes to the growing body of research on LLM evaluation and provides insights for developing more robust and trustworthy AI assistants in critical decision\-making contexts\.

## Submission history

From: Ahmad Shahi \[[view email](https://arxiv.org/show-email/d048bff9/2609.35804)\] **\[v1\]**Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:25:05 UTC \(119 KB\)

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