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Theory of Mind May Have Spontaneously Emerged in Large Language Models

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  • Kosinski, Michal

    (Stanford U)

Abstract

Theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to impute unobservable mental states to others, is central to human social interactions, communication, empathy, self-consciousness, and morality. We tested several language models using 40 classic false-belief tasks widely used to test ToM in humans. The models published before 2020 showed virtually no ability to solve ToM tasks. Yet, the first version of GPT-3 (“davinci-001†), published in May 2020, solved about 40% of false-belief tasks—performance comparable with 3.5-year-old children. Its second version (“davinci-002†; January 2022) solved 70% of false-belief tasks, performance comparable with six-year-olds. Its most recent version, GPT-3.5 (“davinci-003†; November 2022), solved 90% of false-belief tasks, at the level of seven-year-olds. GPT-4 published in March 2023 solved nearly all the tasks (95%). These findings suggest that ToM-like ability (thus far considered to be uniquely human) may have spontaneously emerged as a byproduct of language models’ improving language skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosinski, Michal, 2023. "Theory of Mind May Have Spontaneously Emerged in Large Language Models," Research Papers 4086, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:4086
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    File URL: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/working-papers/theory-mind-may-have-spontaneously-emerged-large-language-models
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    Cited by:

    1. Bauer, Kevin & Liebich, Lena & Hinz, Oliver & Kosfeld, Michael, 2023. "Decoding GPT's hidden "rationality" of cooperation," SAFE Working Paper Series 401, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. Yiting Chen & Tracy Xiao Liu & You Shan & Songfa Zhong, 2023. "The emergence of economic rationality of GPT," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 120(51), pages 2316205120-, December.
    3. Söderlund, Magnus & Natorina, Alona, 2024. "Service robots in a multi-party setting: An examination of robots’ ability to detect human-to-human conflict and its effects on robot evaluations," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Timm Teubner & Christoph M. Flath & Christof Weinhardt & Wil Aalst & Oliver Hinz, 2023. "Welcome to the Era of ChatGPT et al," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 65(2), pages 95-101, April.

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