Mechanistic interpretability
Mechanistic interpretability (MI) is an emerging field that aims to understand how neural networks process information at a detailed, component level—similar to how we might reverse-engineer a mechanical device. Rather than just observing inputs and outputs, MI seeks to trace how information flows through the network, identify specific computational patterns, and understand how different parts of the network (such as individual neurons or attention heads) contribute to the model’s behavior.
MI is important because it goes beyond surface-level explanations to uncover the internal mechanisms of how neural networks, particularly complex models like LLMs, actually work. By analyzing how specific components—like neurons, layers, or attention heads—process and transform information, MI helps researchers build a deeper, more principled understanding of model behavior. This insight is crucial for several reasons: it enhances trust...