Beyond the Cartesian Illusion: Testing Two-Stage Multi-Modal Theory of Mind under Perceptual Bottlenecks
While Multi-Modal Large Language Models (MLLMs) demonstrate impressive capabilities in general reasoning, their embodied spatial intelligence remains hampered by a "Cartesian Illusion" - a reliance on text-based probability distributions that lack grounded, 3D topological understanding. This limitation is starkly exposed in multi-agent environments, which demand more than just scene perception; they require second-order Theory of Mind (ToM). Specifically, an Agent A must be able to infer Agent B
Record details
Published: 18 May 2026
Source: arXiv
Category: Research
Topics: Agents & autonomy · Environment
Retrieved: 14 July 2026
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ethics.ai (18 May 2026), “Beyond the Cartesian Illusion: Testing Two-Stage Multi-Modal Theory of Mind under Perceptual Bottlenecks,” evidence record 4129, https://ethics.ai/record/4129 (originally published by arXiv).
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