Emergent Analogical Reasoning in Large Language Models
Authors: Taylor Webb, Keith J. Holyoak, Hongjing Lu
AI-generated Key Points
- Large language models like GPT-3 can exhibit human-like cognitive abilities
- GPT-3 has a strong ability for abstract pattern induction and performs on par with or surpasses humans in most settings
- GPT-3 can solve tasks involving analogical reasoning, including text-based matrix reasoning tasks
- GPT-3 has the capacity to find zero-shot solutions to a wide range of analogy problems
- Prompting participants to consider previously presented stories improves their performance in solving complex analogy problems
- This research provides valuable insights into the cognitive abilities of large language models and their potential applications in solving naturalistic problems.
Abstract: The recent advent of large language models - large neural networks trained on a simple predictive objective over a massive corpus of natural language - has reinvigorated debate over whether human cognitive capacities might emerge in such generic models given sufficient training data. Of particular interest is the ability of these models to reason about novel problems zero-shot, without any direct training on those problems. In human cognition, this capacity is closely tied to an ability to reason by analogy. Here, we performed a direct comparison between human reasoners and a large language model (GPT-3) on a range of analogical tasks, including a novel text-based matrix reasoning task closely modeled on Raven's Progressive Matrices. We found that GPT-3 displayed a surprisingly strong capacity for abstract pattern induction, matching or even surpassing human capabilities in most settings. Our results indicate that large language models such as GPT-3 have acquired an emergent ability to find zero-shot solutions to a broad range of analogy problems.
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