PerSo Benchmark Tests LLM Persuasion Skills in Real Negotiations
Researchers Ali Zamani, Soroush Esfahanian, and Erfan Shahabi introduced PerSo, a benchmark that evaluates large language models' social intelligence in real-world persuasion scenarios. The framework separates social intelligence into cognitive intelligence—inferring others' mental states—and behavioral intelligence—adapting persuasive tactics accordingly. Unlike prior benchmarks that rely on static text or synthetic dialogues, PerSo puts LLMs into live negotiation and persuasion tasks with human participants. The study finds that even top models like GPT-4 struggle to consistently apply behavioral strategies, often defaulting to generic arguments. This exposes a gap between LLMs' ability to understand social cues and their ability to act on them effectively.