Can Large Language Models Discern Evidence for Scientific Hypotheses? Case Studies in the Social Sciences

arXiv:2309.06578v3 Announce Type: replace
Abstract: Hypothesis formulation and testing are central to empirical research. A strong hypothesis is a best guess based on existing evidence and informed by a comprehensive view of relevant literature. However, with exponential increase in the number of scientific articles published annually, manual aggregation and synthesis of evidence related to a given hypothesis is a challenge. Our work explores the ability of current large language models (LLMs) to discern evidence in support or refute of specific …

arxiv case case studies cs.ai cs.cl evidence language language models large language large language models scientific social social sciences studies type