Towards Real-world Human Behavior Simulation: Benchmarking Large Language Models on Long-horizon, Cross-scenario, Heterogeneous Behavior Traces

arXiv cs.CL / 4/10/2026

📰 NewsSignals & Early TrendsIdeas & Deep AnalysisModels & Research

Key Points

  • OmniBehavior is introduced as a user-simulation benchmark built entirely from real-world data, designed to support long-horizon, cross-scenario, and heterogeneous human behavior traces in a unified framework.
  • The authors argue and provide empirical evidence that prior benchmarks using isolated scenarios can create “tunnel vision,” while authentic decision-making depends on long-term, cross-scenario causal chains.
  • Evaluations on state-of-the-art LLMs show that these models struggle to simulate complex real-world behavior, with performance plateauing even when context window sizes increase.
  • A comparison between simulated and authentic behaviors identifies structural biases in LLM simulations, including convergence toward a “positive average person,” hyper-activity, persona homogenization, and a Utopian bias that erodes individual differences and long-tail behaviors.
  • The paper highlights key research directions for improving high-fidelity human behavior simulation beyond current LLM capabilities and benchmark designs.

Abstract

The emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) has illuminated the potential for a general-purpose user simulator. However, existing benchmarks remain constrained to isolated scenarios, narrow action spaces, or synthetic data, failing to capture the holistic nature of authentic human behavior. To bridge this gap, we introduce OmniBehavior, the first user simulation benchmark constructed entirely from real-world data, integrating long-horizon, cross-scenario, and heterogeneous behavioral patterns into a unified framework. Based on this benchmark, we first provide empirical evidence that previous datasets with isolated scenarios suffer from tunnel vision, whereas real-world decision-making relies on long-term, cross-scenario causal chains. Extensive evaluations of state-of-the-art LLMs reveal that current models struggle to accurately simulate these complex behaviors, with performance plateauing even as context windows expand. Crucially, a systematic comparison between simulated and authentic behaviors uncovers a fundamental structural bias: LLMs tend to converge toward a positive average person, exhibiting hyper-activity, persona homogenization, and a Utopian bias. This results in the loss of individual differences and long-tail behaviors, highlighting critical directions for future high-fidelity simulation research.