Exploration vs Exploitation: Rethinking RLVR through Clipping, Entropy, and Spurious Reward

arXiv — cs.LGTuesday, December 23, 2025 at 5:00:00 AM
  • A recent paper explores the exploration-exploitation trade-off in reinforcement learning with verifiable rewards (RLVR), focusing on how spurious rewards and entropy minimization can paradoxically enhance reasoning in large language models (LLMs). The study raises questions about the relationship between policy entropy and performance, and the potential benefits of spurious rewards.
  • This research is significant as it aims to improve the reasoning capabilities of LLMs, which are increasingly utilized in various applications, including natural language processing and decision-making tasks. Understanding these dynamics could lead to more effective AI systems.
  • The findings contribute to ongoing discussions in AI about balancing exploration and exploitation, as well as the implications of reward structures in reinforcement learning. The interplay of different optimization strategies, such as Progressive Reward Shaping and Bayesian approaches, highlights the complexity of enhancing LLM performance while addressing challenges like safety alignment and reward sparsity.
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