One Verdict Is Not Enough: Regression Testing Learned World Models and Their Test Harnesses

Abstract:Learned world models ship as software components whose model versions, preprocessing, and test harnesses change between releases. Work on model updates already counts per-sample regressions, or negative flips, that an accuracy check hides. Two problems remain: a test can pass under one configuration and fail under another, and a harness fault can produce erroneous scores and wrong verdicts without a crash. We present TetraState, a regression-testing protocol for paired possible/impossible video tests. Each test runs under four fixed model-native configurations; its number of correct verdicts assigns one of four outcome classes. Inconclusive tests and failed executions are reported separately alongside the verdict rate. Revisions are compared by per-test outcome transitions, and the harness is versioned as part of the system under test. On all 506 IntPhys 2 Main tests and two heterogeneous systems, Cosmos 3 Nano and V-JEPA 2, two V-JEPA 2 harness revisions move modal accuracy by only 0.2 and 2.6 points yet change 11 and 214 test labels; in the second, accuracy rises although fewer tests are judged correctly, and 43 regressions keep the modal verdict, so a modal-verdict flip check misses them. These results outline a research agenda on configuration-level regression oracles for learned components.

Software Engineering (cs.SE); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (cs.CV)

arXiv:2610.41130 [cs.SE]

(or arXiv:2610.41130v1 [cs.SE] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2610.41130 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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