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Weights to Code: Extracting Interpretable Algorithms from the Discrete Transformer

Yifan Zhang, Wei Bi, Kechi Zhang, Dongming Jin, Jie Fu, Zhi Jin · Jan 9, 2026 · Citations: 0

Coding Demonstrations
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How to use this page

Low trust

Use this as background context only. Do not make protocol decisions from this page alone.

Best use

Background context only

What to verify

Read the full paper before copying any benchmark, metric, or protocol choices.

Evidence quality

Low

Derived from extracted protocol signals and abstract evidence.

Abstract

Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs. However, applying this paradigm to Transformer is complicated by representation entanglement (e.g., superposition), where features encoded in overlapping directions substantially hinder the recovery of symbolic expressions. We propose the Discrete Transformer, an architecture explicitly designed to bridge the gap between continuous representations and discrete symbolic logic. By injecting discreteness through temperature-annealed sampling, our framework effectively leverages hypothesis testing and symbolic regression to extract human-readable programs. Empirically, the Discrete Transformer achieves performance comparable to the RNN-based MIPS baseline on shared discrete tasks, while broadening extraction to tasks with continuous-valued intermediate computations. Finally, we show that architectural inductive biases provide fine-grained control over synthesized programs, establishing the Discrete Transformer as a controllable testbed for algorithm extraction and Transformer interpretability.

Low-signal caution for protocol decisions

Use this page for context, then validate protocol choices against stronger HFEPX references before implementation decisions.

  • The available metadata is too thin to trust this as a primary source.
  • The abstract does not clearly describe the evaluation setup.
  • The abstract does not clearly name benchmarks or metrics.
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Should You Rely On This Paper?

This paper is adjacent to HFEPX scope and is best used for background context, not as a primary protocol reference.

Best use

Background context only

Use if you need

Background context only.

Main weakness

The available metadata is too thin to trust this as a primary source.

Trust level

Low

Usefulness score

40/100 • Low

Treat as adjacent context, not a core eval-method reference.

Human Feedback Signal

Detected

Evaluation Signal

Weak / implicit signal

Usefulness for eval research

Adjacent candidate

Extraction confidence 45%

If you are doing eval pipeline work, start here:

Human Eval Hub LLM-as-Judge Hub Pairwise Preference Hub Tool-Use Eval Hub

What We Could Verify

These are the protocol signals we could actually recover from the available paper metadata. Use them to decide whether this paper is worth deeper reading.

Human Feedback Types

partial

Demonstrations

Directly usable for protocol triage.

"Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs."

Evaluation Modes

missing

None explicit

Validate eval design from full paper text.

"Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs."

Quality Controls

missing

Not reported

No explicit QC controls found.

"Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs."

Benchmarks / Datasets

missing

Not extracted

No benchmark anchors detected.

"Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs."

Reported Metrics

missing

Not extracted

No metric anchors detected.

"Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs."

Human Feedback Details

  • Uses human feedback: Yes
  • Feedback types: Demonstrations
  • Rater population: Not reported
  • Expertise required: Coding

Evaluation Details

  • Evaluation modes:
  • Agentic eval: None
  • Quality controls: Not reported
  • Evidence quality: Low
  • Use this page as: Background context only

Protocol And Measurement Signals

Benchmarks / Datasets

No benchmark or dataset names were extracted from the available abstract.

Reported Metrics

No metric terms were extracted from the available abstract.

Research Brief

Metadata summary

Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs.

Based on abstract + metadata only. Check the source paper before making high-confidence protocol decisions.

Key Takeaways

  • Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo recovery of executable mechanisms from weights without relying on human-written target programs.
  • However, applying this paradigm to Transformer is complicated by representation entanglement (e.g., superposition), where features encoded in overlapping directions substantially hinder the recovery of symbolic expressions.
  • We propose the Discrete Transformer, an architecture explicitly designed to bridge the gap between continuous representations and discrete symbolic logic.

Researcher Actions

  • Compare this paper against nearby papers in the same arXiv category before using it for protocol decisions.
  • Check the full text for explicit evaluation design choices (raters, protocol, and metrics).
  • Use related-paper links to find stronger protocol-specific references.

Caveats

  • Generated from abstract + metadata only; no PDF parsing.
  • Signals below are heuristic and may miss details reported outside the abstract.

Recommended Queries

Research Summary

Contribution Summary

  • Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo algorithm discovery without relying on human-written code.
  • We propose the Discrete Transformer, an architecture explicitly designed to bridge the gap between continuous representations and discrete symbolic logic.
  • Finally, we show that architectural inductive biases provide fine-grained control over synthesized programs, establishing the Discrete Transformer as a robust framework for demonstration-free algorithm discovery and Transformer…

Why It Matters For Eval

  • Algorithm extraction aims to synthesize executable programs directly from models trained on algorithmic tasks, enabling de novo algorithm discovery without relying on human-written code.
  • By injecting discreteness through temperature-annealed sampling, our framework effectively leverages hypothesis testing and symbolic regression to extract human-readable programs.

Researcher Checklist

  • Pass: Human feedback protocol is explicit

    Detected: Demonstrations

  • Gap: Evaluation mode is explicit

    No clear evaluation mode extracted.

  • Gap: Quality control reporting appears

    No calibration/adjudication/IAA control explicitly detected.

  • Gap: Benchmark or dataset anchors are present

    No benchmark/dataset anchor extracted from abstract.

  • Gap: Metric reporting is present

    No metric terms extracted.

Related Papers

Papers are ranked by protocol overlap, extraction signal alignment, and semantic proximity.

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