Large Language Models as Tool Makers
Authors: name: Tianle Cai; name: Xuezhi Wang; name: Tengyu Ma; name: Xinyun Chen; name: Denny Zhou
Published: 2023-05-26 17:50:11

Abstract: Recent research shows the potential of enhancing the problem-solving ability
of large language models (LLMs) through the use of external tools. However,
prior work along this line depends on the availability of existing tools. In
this work, we take an initial step towards removing this dependency by
proposing a closed-loop framework, referred to as LLMs As Tool Makers (LATM),
where LLMs create their own reusable tools for problem-solving. Our approach
consists of two key phases: 1) tool making: an LLM acts as the tool maker that
crafts tools for given tasks, where a tool is implemented as a Python utility
function. 2) tool using: an LLM acts as the tool user, which applies the tool
built by the tool maker for problem-solving. The tool user can be either the
same or a different LLM from the tool maker. Tool-making enables an LLM to
continually generate tools that can be applied to different requests so that
future requests can call the corresponding APIs when beneficial for solving the
tasks. Furthermore, the division of labor among LLMs for tool-making and
tool-using phases introduces the opportunity to achieve cost effectiveness
without degrading the quality of generated tools and problem solutions. For
example, recognizing that tool-making demands more sophisticated capabilities
than tool-using, we can apply a powerful yet resource-intensive model as the
tool maker, and a lightweight while cost-effective model as the tool user. We
validate the effectiveness of our approach across a variety of complex
reasoning tasks, including Big-Bench tasks. With GPT-4 as the tool maker and
GPT-3.5 as the tool user, LATM can achieve performance that is on par with
using GPT-4 for both tool making and tool using, while the inference cost is
significantly reduced.