ChatGPT Generates Language Like Humans By Favouring Examples, Memories, Not Rules: Oxford Study

One of the new studies led by the University of Oxford said that AI systems behind chatbots like ChatGPT generate language like humans by favouring memories and examples and not by following the grammar rules.

According to a new study led by the University of Oxford, the AI systems behind chatbots like ChatGPT generate content in a human-like way by not following strict grammatical rules but through analogy.

This new study challenges the widespread assumption that chatbots generate content by only following rules. The study says that the content depends mainly on the stored examples, and when the LLM deals with unfamiliar words, it draws analogies.

Senior author Janet Pierrehumbert, Professor of Language Modelling in the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, said, "Although LLMs can generate language in a very impressive manner, it turns out that they do not think as abstractly as humans do. This probably contributes to the fact that their training requires so much more language data than humans need to learn a language."

Co-lead author Dr Valentin Hofman (Ai2 and University of Washington) said, "This study is a great example of synergy between Linguistics and AI as research areas. The findings give us a clearer picture of what’s going on inside LLMs when they generate language, and will support future advances in robust, efficient, and explainable AI."

ChatGPT Generating Content Like Humans: More Details

There was also a main difference found between how LLMs and human beings compare examples in language. The human being uses a mental store of words like a mental dictionary, regardless of how often they occur. In contrast, LLMs generalize directly over all the specific instances of words in the training set.

Different Perspective On Link Between Teen Mental Health And Social Media Usage

New research has shown a contrasting take on the social media usage effects on teen mental health. When most of the media headlines suggest that the increased use of social media causes mental health problems in teens, the new study has found that the teens with mental health conditions like depression and anxiety spend more time on social media.

While commenting on this, Professor Andrew Przybylski, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford said, "It's more insightful to start with how young people actually use social media, rather than assume it's harming them. If research focuses on their real experiences, we can better understand their struggles and see their use of social media as a symptom, not a cause, of their mental health conditions. This shift lets us ask better questions and find more useful solutions than just banning new technologies."

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