Understanding large language models demands distinguishing human projection from machine cognition

Abstract

Current efforts to understand Large Language Models (LLMs) are largely metaphorical. Researchers map LLMs onto familiar domains, from physics and neuroscience to psychology and sociology, each illuminating specific facets while obscuring others. We chart these metaphors across mechanistic, behavioral, and interactive scales and delineate their explanatory boundaries. Crucially, this metaphorical projection creates a recursive loop of anthropomorphism, fueling the “genuine understanding” versus “pattern matching” impasse. As an alternative approach, we propose machine experientialism, positing that LLMs build their own form of understanding from training corpora. The priority shifts from cataloging LLMs’ human-like traits to uncovering their distinct logic that emerges from this text-based world. This Perspective proposes machine experientialism, positing that LLMs build their own form of understanding from training corpora.