Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 38, No. 175.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
www.dhhumanist.org
Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2024-10-07 09:20:02+00:00
From: Adrian Wüthrich <adrian.wuethrich@TU-BERLIN.DE>
Subject: Large Language Models for the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science (Workshop)
Large Language Models for the History, Philosophy, and Sociology
of Science (Workshop)
April 2-4, 2025, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany
Organized by: Gerd Graßhoff, Arno Simons, Adrian Wüthrich, and Michael
Zichert
Summary
We invite contributions to our workshop on *using large language models
(LLMs) in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science (HPSS).* The
workshop will focus on exploring use cases and proposals for how, and to
what extent, LLMs might help overcome long-standing challenges in
studies of how science works. The event will take place from *April 2–4,
2025, at Technische Universität Berlin*, Germany.^1 Attendance (online
and on site) will be *free and open to the public* but registration will
be required. To contribute a talk, please submit *abstracts of 300–600
words by December 31, 2024*, to arno.simons@tu-berlin.de.
Workshop topics
*Computational approaches* to the *history of science* are in the
process of establishing themselves among the standard repertoire of
tools in the field and we have seen remarkable successes in their
application already. Subfields of *sociology of science* have focused,
since long, on quantitative methods such as bibliometrics and
scientometrics. More recently, *philosophy of science* has experienced a
shift towards allowing more empirical approaches including large-scale
algorithmic analyses of scientific or methodological concepts.
Computational tools can not only help reduce the workload in traditional
research in these fields but, more importantly, also *open up new
avenues* which to explore would otherwise be hopeless.
Analyses of co-occurrences and word frequencies as well as more advanced
techniques such as topic modeling have helped go beyond identifying only
structural features of scientific activities and began scratching the
surface of *semantics*. However, a deeper understanding of scientific
concepts, the structure of scientific arguments, and the process of
knowledge transformation and spread have remained *formidable
challenges* for computational approaches in the mentioned fields.
With the *advent of LLMs* this might change now. Natural language
processing and machine learning have made a spectacular leap forward in
their attempt to capture and analyze meaning and grammatical structures
of texts. This promises that LLMs can help HPSS researchers meet the
aforementioned challenges. However—besides general issues such as
opacity, bias and interpretability—the use of LLMs for HPSS is likely to
face *unique obstacles* arising from the specialized nature of
scientific language as well as the specific perspectives and objectives
of HPSS. It will be the main goal of this workshop to see how, given
these obstacles, the most recent advances in LLM development can help
overcome long-standing challenges in HPSS.
Accordingly, the workshop will address *two key themes*, with the goal
of synthesizing them over the course of the event. On one hand,
contributions should articulate *the specific needs and desiderata of
HPSS researchers*—what they hope LLMs can achieve for their work. On the
other hand, *the* *current state of LLM development* should be
critically examined to determine to what extent these research goals are
becoming attainable. Ideally, contributions will address both these
objectives, though submissions focused on only one of them are also welcome.
We particularly encourage contributions that focus on:
* Use cases that demonstrate how LLMs can help *resolve current
issues* in HPSS
* Examples of how LLMs allow researchers to *ask and answer new types
of questions* in HPSS
* How *new types of sources and data*, made analyzable through LLMs,
contribute to novel insights in HPSS research
We look for contributions that help resolve questions like these:
* How can LLMs help gain *new perspectives on long-standing problems*
in HPSS such as determining the relevant contexts of knowledge
claims, the dynamics of scientific controversies, problems of
incommensurability, and generalizability of case studies?
* How can LLMs handle the *specialized language of scientific texts*,
including technical jargon, citations, and mathematical formulas?
* How can LLMs *bridge the gap between qualitative and computational
methods* and help overcome their limitations?
* How can LLMs be *integrated into existing theoretical and
methodological frameworks* in HPSS, or how should these frameworks
evolve to accommodate LLM-based analysis?
* How can we *evaluate* the validity of results generated by LLMs,
given their opacity?
* How can LLMs account for the *temporal development* of scientific
language and knowledge over time?
Format and practical information
The workshop will take place from *April 2-4, 2025* at *Technische
Universität Berlin*. The program will consist of an invited keynote and
contributed short talks (15+10 min) as well as additional sessions for
discussions. Attendance (online and on site) will be *free and open to
the public* but registration will be required. Information on this will
follow closer to the date.
*To contribute a talk*, please send an *abstract* of your planned
contribution *of 300-600 words by e-mail* to arno.simons@tu-berlin.de by
*December 31, 2024*. We encourage every contributor to present on site
and to participate in the whole workshop program. In exceptional cases,
we will offer the possibility to present remotely.
*Participation of underrepresented groups* is particularly welcome, and
we may be able to offer financial support to cover travel costs for
contributing authors in exceptional cases. Please indicate in your
submission if you would like to apply for financial support.
We plan to *publish the slides, videos, and abstracts* on a suitable
platform. We also plan to write a report on the workshop and on the
perspectives resulting from it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The workshop is funded by the European Union through the project
“*Network Epistemology in Practice (NEPI)*” (ERC Consolidator Grant,
Project No. 101044932). Views and opinions expressed are however
those of the organizers only and do not necessarily reflect those of
the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the
European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible
for them.↩︎
--
Adrian Wuethrich
Technische Universitaet Berlin
Institut fuer Philosophie, Literatur-, Wissenschafts- und Technikgeschichte
Raum H 2534 / Sekr. H 23
Strasse des 17. Juni 135
D-10623 Berlin
adrian.wuethrich@tu-berlin.de
+49 30 314 24069
https://www.tu.berlin/go214591/
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