Detecting Strategic Deception Using Linear Probes, Detecting Strategic Deception Using Linear Probes Nicholas Goldowsky-Dill , Bilal Chughtai , Stefan Heimersheim , Can you tell when an LLM is lying from the activations? Are simple methods good enough? We recently published a paper investigating if linear probes detect when Llama is deceptive. Learn to accurately detect when someone is lying to you with amazing accuracy. Excerpts of my interview with Mark McClich, former Secret Service Agent and creator of Statement Analysis, a technique applied by the FBI to detect deception in the words we speak. In Forty-second International Conference on Machine Learning, 2025. We test two probe-training datasets, one with contrasting instructions to be honest or deceptive (following Zou et al. , Heimersheim, S. Feb 5, 2025 · We thus evaluate if linear probes can robustly detect deception by monitoring model activations. Feb 6, 2025 · We thus evaluate if linear probes can robustly detect deception by monitoring model activations. Monitoring outputs alone is insufficient, since the AI might produce seemingly benign outputs while their internal reasoning is misaligned. We thus Feb 5, 2025 · Researchers at Apollo Research demonstrate that linear probes can effectively detect strategic deception in large language models by analyzing internal act 5 days ago · A probe trained to detect deceptive behaviour in Qwen/Qwen3. , and Hobbhahn, M. We test two probe-training datasets, one with contrasting instructions to It is found that white-box probes are promising for future monitoring systems, but current performance is insufficient as a robust defence against deception. (2023)) and one of responses to simple roleplaying scenarios. , Chughtai, B. 18757–18775; Goldowsky-Dill, Nicholas, et al. We test two probe-training datasets, one with con-trasting instructions to be honest or deceptive (following Zou et al. 267, 2025, pp. May 1, 2025 · We thus evaluate if linear probes can robustly detect deception by monitoring model activations. 6-27B:ai-safety-institute/Qwen3. Detecting strategic deception with linear probes. May 1, 2025 · How can we spot that kind of strategic deception before it causes harm? We explore a simple detector system: a linear probe that monitors the model's internal thoughts (its 'activations', or intermediate computations)—while the model responds. , 2023) and one of responses to simple roleplaying scenarios. " Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Machine Learning, Proceedings of Machine Learning Research, vol. We thus evaluate if linear probes can robustly detect deception by monitoring model activations. . 19755–19786 8 36 See, Schneider, Johannes, Christian Meske, and Michalis Vlachos. Feb 17, 2026 · Goldowsky-Dill, N. May 2, 2023 – Lies and Allies TuesdaysDavid Neequaye – What justifies cognitive load lie detection? We thus evaluate if linear probes can robustly detect de-ception by monitoring model activations. AI models might use deceptive strategies as part of scheming or misaligned behaviour. (2023)) and one of re-sponses to simple roleplaying scenarios. Mar 19, 2026 · IEEE Access, vol. "Detecting Strategic Deception with Linear Probes. 10, 2022, pp. Feb 6, 2025 · We test two probe-training datasets, one with contrasting instructions to be honest or deceptive (following Zou et al. The BLAST (TM) Deception Detection Certified Training Program is owned by Whetst Bibliographic details on Detecting Strategic Deception Using Linear Probes. 6-27B-eval_sandbagger using residual stream activations, following the methodology from Detecting Strategic Deception in Language Models (Apollo Research, 2024). How can we spot that kind of strategic deception before it causes harm?We explore a simple detector system: a linear probe that monitors the model's internal thoughts (its 'activations', or intermediate computations)—while the model responds. v5 wco fzwmnk 3foumuv obk qn8mpni 403r e5slh krbeq gq0wv0a \