Algorithm of Thoughts: Enhancing Exploration of Ideas in Large Language Models

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Closest papers

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   Iteration of Thought: Leveraging Inner Dialogue for Autonomous Large Language Model Reasoning

   Santosh Kumar Radha, Yasamin Nouri Jelyani, A. Ghukasyan et al. · 2024 · arXiv.org · preprint, not peer reviewed · cited 17 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Iterative human engagement is a common and effective means of leveraging the advanced language processing power of large language models (LLMs). Using well-structured prompts in a conversational manner, human users can effectively influence an LLM to develop more thoughtful and accurate responses. Motivated by this insight, we propose the Iteration of Thought (IoT) framework for enhancing LLM responses by generating"thought"-provoking prompts vis a vis an input query and the current iteration of an LLM's response. Unlike static or semi-static approaches, e.g. Chain of Thought (CoT) or Tree of Thoughts (ToT), IoT adapts its reasoning path dynamically, based on evolving context, and without ge…

2. Very close Cites this paper Not relevant

   Diamond of Thoughts: Synergistic Merging for Efficient Large Language Model Reasoning

   Yi-Cheng Zhang · 2026 · International Conference on the Software Process · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   While large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities, their performance on complex reasoning tasks is often constrained by linear decoding or isolated search topologies. Existing structured prompting methods like Tree of Thoughts (ToT) suffer from path isolation, whereas Graph of Thoughts (GoT) requires complex, manually engineered routing structures. To address these limitations, we introduce Diamond of Thoughts (DoT), a lightweight, plug-and-play prompting framework that enforces a dynamic "diverge-and-merge" topology. DoT systematically generates diverse reasoning branches, extracts the most promising intermediate deductions, and employs a synergistic merge operato…

3. Very close Not relevant

   CoAT: Chain-of-Associated-Thoughts Framework for Enhancing Large Language Models Reasoning

   Jianfeng Pan, Senyou Deng, Shaomang Huang · 2025 · Computation and Language · cited 16 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   Research on LLM technologies is rapidly emerging, with most of them employing a 'fast thinking' approach to inference. Most LLMs generate the final result based solely on a single query and LLM's reasoning capabilities. However, with the advent of OpenAI-o1, 'slow thinking' techniques have garnered increasing attention because its process is closer to the human thought process. Inspired by the human ability to constantly associate and replenish knowledge during thinking, we developed the novel Chain-of-Associated-Thoughts (CoAT) framework, which introduces an innovative synergy between the Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) algorithm and a dynamic mechanism for integrating new key information, t…

4. Very close Not relevant

   Graph of Thoughts: Solving Elaborate Problems with Large Language Models

   Maciej Besta, Nils Blach, Ales Kubicek et al. · 2023 · Computation and Language · cited 1,683 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   We introduce Graph of Thoughts (GoT): a framework that advances prompting capabilities in large language models (LLMs) beyond those offered by paradigms such as Chain-ofThought or Tree of Thoughts (ToT). The key idea and primary advantage of GoT is the ability to model the information generated by an LLM as an arbitrary graph, where units of information ("LLM thoughts") are vertices, and edges correspond to dependencies between these vertices. This approach enables combining arbitrary LLM thoughts into synergistic outcomes, distilling the essence of whole networks of thoughts, or enhancing thoughts using feedback loops. We illustrate that GoT offers advantages over state of the art on differ…

5. Very close Not relevant

   Synergy-of-Thoughts: Eliciting Efficient Reasoning in Hybrid Language Models

   Yu Shang, Yu Li, Feng-Li Xu et al. · 2024 · cited 10 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Large language models (LLMs) have shown impressive emergent abilities in a wide range of tasks, but the associated expensive API cost greatly limits the real application. Previous works like chain-of-thought (CoT) and tree-of-thoughts (ToT) have predominately focused on enhancing accuracy, but overlook the rapidly increasing API cost, which could be particularly problematic for open-ended real-world tasks with huge solution spaces. Motivated by the dual process theory of human cognition, we propose"Synergy of Thoughts"(SoT) to unleash the synergistic potential of hybrid LLMs with different scales for efficient reasoning. By default, SoT uses smaller-scale language models to generate multiple…

6. Very close Not relevant

   Thought Space Explorer: Navigating and Expanding Thought Space for Large Language Model Reasoning

   Jing-Han Zhang, Feng-Ran Mo, Xi-Ting Wang et al. · 2024 · BigData Congress [Services Society] · cited 13 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated their potential in handling complex reasoning tasks, which are usually achieved by constructing a thought chain to guide the model to solve the problem with multi-step thinking. However, existing methods often remain confined to previously explored solution spaces and thus overlook the critical blind spot within LLMs’ cognitive range. To address these issues, we design the Thought Space Explorer (TSE), a novel framework to expand and optimize thought structures to guide LLMs to explore their blind spots of thinking. By generating new reasoning steps and branches based on the original thought structure with various designed str…

7. Very close Not relevant

   Unleashing the Creative Mind: Language Model As Hierarchical Policy For Improved Exploration on Challenging Problem Solving

   Zhan Ling, Yunhao Fang, Xuanlin Li et al. · 2023 · Artificial Intelligence · preprint, not peer reviewed · cited 5 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   Large Language Models (LLMs) have achieved tremendous progress, yet they still often struggle with challenging reasoning problems. Current approaches address this challenge by sampling or searching detailed and low-level reasoning chains. However, these methods are still limited in their exploration capabilities, making it challenging for correct solutions to stand out in the huge solution space. In this work, we unleash LLMs' creative potential for exploring multiple diverse problem solving strategies by framing an LLM as a hierarchical policy via in-context learning. This policy comprises of a visionary leader that proposes multiple diverse high-level problem-solving tactics as hints, acco…

8. Very close Not relevant

   Neural Chain-of-Thought Search: Searching the Optimal Reasoning Path to Enhance Large Language Models

   Guo-Ming Ling, Zhong-Zhan Huang, Yupei Lin et al. · 2026 · Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics · cited 12 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Chain-of-Thought reasoning has significantly enhanced the problem-solving capabilities of Large Language Models. Unfortunately, current models generate reasoning steps sequentially without foresight, often becoming trapped in suboptimal reasoning paths with redundant steps. In contrast, we introduce Neural Chain-of-Thought Search (NCoTS), a framework that reformulates reasoning as a dynamic search for the optimal thinking strategy. By quantitatively characterizing the solution space, we reveal the existence of sparse superior reasoning paths that are simultaneously more accurate and concise than standard outputs. Our method actively navigates towards these paths by evaluating candidate reaso…

Prior work it builds on

1. Close Not relevant

   Large Language Model Guided Tree-of-Thought

   Jieyi Long · 2023 · Artificial Intelligence · preprint, not peer reviewed · cited 351 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   In this paper, we introduce the Tree-of-Thought (ToT) framework, a novel approach aimed at improving the problem-solving capabilities of auto-regressive large language models (LLMs). The ToT technique is inspired by the human mind's approach for solving complex reasoning tasks through trial and error. In this process, the human mind explores the solution space through a tree-like thought process, allowing for backtracking when necessary. To implement ToT as a software system, we augment an LLM with additional modules including a prompter agent, a checker module, a memory module, and a ToT controller. In order to solve a given problem, these modules engage in a multi-round conversation with t…

2. Close Used in depth by this paper Not relevant

   Self-Consistency Improves Chain of Thought Reasoning in Language Models

   Xue-Zhi Wang, Jason Wei, Dale Schuurmans et al. · 2022 · International Conference on Learning Representations · cited 8,196 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   Chain-of-thought prompting combined with pre-trained large language models has achieved encouraging results on complex reasoning tasks. In this paper, we propose a new decoding strategy, self-consistency, to replace the naive greedy decoding used in chain-of-thought prompting. It first samples a diverse set of reasoning paths instead of only taking the greedy one, and then selects the most consistent answer by marginalizing out the sampled reasoning paths. Self-consistency leverages the intuition that a complex reasoning problem typically admits multiple different ways of thinking leading to its unique correct answer. Our extensive empirical evaluation shows that self-consistency boosts the …

3. Close Not relevant

   Automatic Chain of Thought Prompting in Large Language Models

   Zhuosheng Zhang, Aston Zhang, Mu Li et al. · 2022 · Computation and Language · cited 1,072 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   Large language models (LLMs) can perform complex reasoning by generating intermediate reasoning steps. Providing these steps for prompting demonstrations is called chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting. CoT prompting has two major paradigms. One leverages a simple prompt like "Let's think step by step" to facilitate step-by-step thinking before answering a question. The other uses a few manual demonstrations one by one, each composed of a question and a reasoning chain that leads to an answer. The superior performance of the second paradigm hinges on the hand-crafting of task-specific demonstrations one by one. We show that such manual efforts may be eliminated by leveraging LLMs with the "Let's …

4. Close A method it uses Not relevant

   Synthetic Prompting: Generating Chain-of-Thought Demonstrations for Large Language Models

   Zhihong Shao, Yeyun Gong, Ye-Long Shen et al. · 2023 · International Conference on Machine Learning · cited 105 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   Large language models can perform various reasoning tasks by using chain-of-thought prompting, which guides them to find answers through step-by-step demonstrations. However, the quality of the prompts depends on the demonstrations given to the models, and creating many of them by hand is costly. We introduce Synthetic prompting, a method that leverages a few handcrafted examples to prompt the model to generate more examples by itself, and selects effective demonstrations to elicit better reasoning. Our method alternates between a backward and forward process to generate new examples. The backward process generates a question that match a sampled reasoning chain, so that the question is solv…

5. Close Not relevant

   Large Language Models are Zero-Shot Reasoners

   Takeshi Kojima, Shixiang Shane Gu, Machel Reid et al. · 2022 · Computation and Language · cited 8,441 times · AI summary available

   Abstract

   Pretrained large language models (LLMs) are widely used in many sub-fields of natural language processing (NLP) and generally known as excellent few-shot learners with task-specific exemplars. Notably, chain of thought (CoT) prompting, a recent technique for eliciting complex multi-step reasoning through step-by-step answer examples, achieved the state-of-the-art performances in arithmetics and symbolic reasoning, difficult system-2 tasks that do not follow the standard scaling laws for LLMs. While these successes are often attributed to LLMs' ability for few-shot learning, we show that LLMs are decent zero-shot reasoners by simply adding "Let's think step by step" before each answer. Experi…

Papers that cite it

1. Very close Uses this paper in depth Not relevant

   Autonomous Tree-search Ability of Large Language Models

   Zhe-Yu Zhang, Zhuorui Ye, Yikang Shen et al. · 2023 · arXiv.org · preprint, not peer reviewed · cited 1 time · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Large Language Models have excelled in remarkable reasoning capabilities with advanced prompting techniques, but they fall short on tasks that require exploration, strategic foresight, and sequential decision-making. Recent works propose to utilize external programs to define search logic, such that LLMs can perform passive tree search to solve more challenging reasoning tasks. Though impressive results have been achieved, there are several fundamental limitations of these approaches. First, passive tree searches are not efficient as they usually require multiple rounds of LLM API calls to solve one single problem. Moreover, passive search methods are not flexible since they need task-specif…

2. Close Uses this paper in depth Not relevant

   On the Limits of Innate Planning in Large Language Models

   Charles Schepanowski, Charles Ling · 2025 · arXiv.org · preprint, not peer reviewed · cited 1 time · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Large language models (LLMs) achieve impressive results on many benchmarks, yet their capacity for planning and stateful reasoning remains unclear. We study these abilities directly, without code execution or other tools, using the 8-puzzle: a classic task that requires state tracking and goal-directed planning while allowing precise, step-by-step evaluation. Four models are tested under common prompting conditions (Zero-Shot, Chain-of-Thought, Algorithm-of-Thought) and with tiered corrective feedback. Feedback improves success rates for some model-prompt combinations, but many successful runs are long, computationally expensive, and indirect. We then examine the models with an external move…

3. Very close Not relevant

   Recursive Decomposition of Logical Thoughts: Framework for Superior Reasoning and Knowledge Propagation in Large Language Models

   Kaleem Ullah Qasim, Jia-Shu Zhang, Tariq Alsahfi et al. · 2025 · Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research · cited 15 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Enhancing the reasoning capabilities of Large Language Models remains a critical challenge in artificial intelligence. We introduce RDoLT, Recursive Decomposition of Logical Thought prompting, a novel framework that significantly boosts LLM reasoning performance. RDoLT is built on three key innovations: (1) recursively breaking down complex reasoning tasks into sub-tasks of progressive complexity; (2) employing an advanced selection and scoring mechanism to identify the most promising reasoning thoughts; and (3) integrating a knowledge propagation module that mimics human learning by keeping track of strong and weak thoughts for information propagation. Our approach was evaluated across mult…

4. Very close Not relevant

   DetermLR: Augmenting LLM-based Logical Reasoning from Indeterminacy to Determinacy

   Hongda Sun, Wei-Kai Xu, Wei Liu et al. · 2023 · Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics · cited 65 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have revolutionized the landscape of reasoning tasks. To enhance the capabilities of LLMs to emulate human reasoning, prior studies have focused on modeling reasoning steps using various thought structures like chains, trees, or graphs. However, LLM-based reasoning still encounters the following challenges: (1) Limited adaptability of preset structures to diverse tasks; (2) Insufficient precision in exploiting known conditions to derive new ones; and (3) Inadequate consideration of historical reasoning experiences for subsequent reasoning steps. To this end, we propose DetermLR, a novel perspective that rethinks the reasoning process as an evol…

5. Very close Not relevant

   Forest-of-Thought: Scaling Test-Time Compute for Enhancing LLM Reasoning

   Zhenni Bi, Kai Han, Chuanjian Liu et al. · 2024 · International Conference on Machine Learning · cited 140 times · Not summarized yet

   Abstract

   Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable abilities across various language tasks, but solving complex reasoning problems remains a significant challenge. While existing methods, such as Chain-of-Thought (CoT) and Tree-of-Thought (ToT), enhance reasoning by decomposing problems or structuring prompts, they typically perform a single pass of reasoning and may fail to revisit flawed paths, compromising accuracy. To address this limitation, we propose a novel reasoning framework called Forest-of-Thought (FoT), which integrates multiple reasoning trees to leverage collective decision-making for solving complex logical problems. FoT employs sparse activation strategies to select t…