Can LLMs learn social skills by playing games?
Can LLMs learn social skills by playing games?
Can LLMs learn social skills by playing games?
Kim Martineau
July, 23, 2025
Summary
TextArena is an open-source platform developed by A*STAR and IBM to test and improve large language models (LLMs) through over 24 competitive, text-based games. Designed to assess soft skills like negotiation and empathy—areas where LLMs traditionally struggle—the platform promotes real-time evaluation in dynamic environments. With over 100,000 games played and 216 LLMs tested, TextArena enables reinforcement learning and continuous benchmarking. Supported by the open-source community, new games are regularly added to expand cognitive testing. The platform aims to train AI agents for real-world interactions, moving beyond static benchmarks toward more flexible, human-like reasoning and communication capabilities.
Reference
Martineau, K. (2025, July 23). Can LLMs learn social skills by playing games? IBM Research. https://research.ibm.com/blog/LLM-social-intelligence-framework