Beyond Single-User Dialogue: Assessing Multi-User Dialogue State Tracking Capabilities of Large Language Models

Sangmin Song, Juhwan Choi, JungMin Yun, YoungBin Kim


Abstract
Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable performance in zero-shot dialogue state tracking (DST), reducing the need for task-specific training. However, conventional DST benchmarks primarily focus on structured user-agent conversations, failing to capture the complexities of real-world multi-user interactions. In this study, we assess the robustness of LLMs in multi-user DST while minimizing dataset construction costs. Inspired by recent advances in LLM-based data annotation, we extend an existing DST dataset by generating utterances of a second user based on speech act theory. Our methodology systematically incorporates a second user’s utterances into conversations, enabling a controlled evaluation of LLMs in multi-user settings. Experimental results reveal a significant performance drop compared to single-user DST, highlighting the limitations of current LLMs in extracting and tracking dialogue states amidst multiple speakers. Our findings emphasize the need for future research to enhance LLMs for multi-user DST scenarios, paving the way for more realistic and robust DST models.
Anthology ID:
2025.findings-emnlp.1090
Volume:
Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2025
Month:
November
Year:
2025
Address:
Suzhou, China
Editors:
Christos Christodoulopoulos, Tanmoy Chakraborty, Carolyn Rose, Violet Peng
Venue:
Findings
SIG:
Publisher:
Association for Computational Linguistics
Note:
Pages:
20018–20029
Language:
URL:
https://preview.aclanthology.org/author-page-yu-wang-polytechnic/2025.findings-emnlp.1090/
DOI:
10.18653/v1/2025.findings-emnlp.1090
Bibkey:
Cite (ACL):
Sangmin Song, Juhwan Choi, JungMin Yun, and YoungBin Kim. 2025. Beyond Single-User Dialogue: Assessing Multi-User Dialogue State Tracking Capabilities of Large Language Models. In Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: EMNLP 2025, pages 20018–20029, Suzhou, China. Association for Computational Linguistics.
Cite (Informal):
Beyond Single-User Dialogue: Assessing Multi-User Dialogue State Tracking Capabilities of Large Language Models (Song et al., Findings 2025)
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PDF:
https://preview.aclanthology.org/author-page-yu-wang-polytechnic/2025.findings-emnlp.1090.pdf
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