One particular application of GPT-4 (or other LLMs) that seems really valuable to me is as a fact check on claims about what other people think (e.g., “what’s the scientific consensus on whether exercise lowers the risk of dementia?”) As long as the topic isn’t about political correctness, I pretty much trust GPT-4 to represent the consensus fairly, and that’s a pretty amazing tool to have. Like, it’s not uncommon that people disagree about what the scientific consensus is, and we didn’t really have a way to answer these questions before.
Sometimes I even feel like it should be an epistemic norm that you fact check important claims with GPT-4 when applicable. E.g., whenever you say “this is considered a fringe idea” or “these two books are the most widely known on the subject”, or even “the argument this person makes is only xyz”, if it’s in the context of a serious post, you should check with GPT-4 whether that’s actually true and perhaps link to a transcript. Maybe that’s going too far but like, restricting the extent to which people can bend reality to fit their needs seems pretty great.
What GPT-4 does is to give you the establishment consensus. I would expect that there are many scientific questions where there are multiple scientific paradigms that touch the question. If one of the paradigms is more high status then I think there’s a good chance that GPT-4 will give you the establishment position.
If you for example ask GPT-4 some questions about hypnosis, I think you often get something that’s more of an establishment position back than what you would get if you would read the Oxford Handbook of Hypnosis that describes what’s scientific consensus among the scientists who study hypnosis.
Fair point, but there’s still a strong correlation between established consensus and expert consensus. In most cases, they’re probably gonna be similar.
I wrote the previous comment mainly on the experience of a few months ago. I just tested it by asking about Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and GPT4 seems to be more open now. Part of the response was:
Differing Views among Medical Professionals: Some healthcare professionals and researchers question whether PTLDS is a distinct medical condition, while others argue that it is a legitimate syndrome requiring further study and a specific approach to treatment.
Patient Advocacy: Patient advocacy groups, particularly those representing individuals who have experienced persistent symptoms after Lyme disease treatment, may have views that differ from some medical professionals, adding to the complexity of the conversation around PTLDS.
This seems to be a good summary that does not ignore the views of patient advocates when they disagree with the orthodox CDC position.
One particular application of GPT-4 (or other LLMs) that seems really valuable to me is as a fact check on claims about what other people think (e.g., “what’s the scientific consensus on whether exercise lowers the risk of dementia?”) As long as the topic isn’t about political correctness, I pretty much trust GPT-4 to represent the consensus fairly, and that’s a pretty amazing tool to have. Like, it’s not uncommon that people disagree about what the scientific consensus is, and we didn’t really have a way to answer these questions before.
Sometimes I even feel like it should be an epistemic norm that you fact check important claims with GPT-4 when applicable. E.g., whenever you say “this is considered a fringe idea” or “these two books are the most widely known on the subject”, or even “the argument this person makes is only xyz”, if it’s in the context of a serious post, you should check with GPT-4 whether that’s actually true and perhaps link to a transcript. Maybe that’s going too far but like, restricting the extent to which people can bend reality to fit their needs seems pretty great.
What GPT-4 does is to give you the establishment consensus. I would expect that there are many scientific questions where there are multiple scientific paradigms that touch the question. If one of the paradigms is more high status then I think there’s a good chance that GPT-4 will give you the establishment position.
If you for example ask GPT-4 some questions about hypnosis, I think you often get something that’s more of an establishment position back than what you would get if you would read the Oxford Handbook of Hypnosis that describes what’s scientific consensus among the scientists who study hypnosis.
Fair point, but there’s still a strong correlation between established consensus and expert consensus. In most cases, they’re probably gonna be similar.
I wrote the previous comment mainly on the experience of a few months ago. I just tested it by asking about Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and GPT4 seems to be more open now. Part of the response was:
This seems to be a good summary that does not ignore the views of patient advocates when they disagree with the orthodox CDC position.