What does the difference between linguistic fluency, knowledge and expertise mean for our increasing reliance on generative AI?
Speaker
Dr Simon Thorne
Synopsis
This presentation brings together 3 papers published in 2026 on LLM reliability via a group led by Dr Thorne with Prof. Harry Collins at UCL.
Beginning with "Large language models and scientific discourse: Where’s the intelligence?". In "Synthese", it will look at how scientific knowledge depends on tacit knowledge, expertise and participation in expert communities.
"More problems of large language models in comparison with human knowledge", published in AI & Society, develops this argument by examining the fundamental differences between the way humans acquire knowledge and the way LLMs are trained.
Finally, "Large language models eroding science understanding: an experimental study", accepted by "AI and Ethics", puts some of these ideas to the test, showing how easily an LLM can be made to produce authoritative and convincing accounts of fringe science that may be extremely difficult for a non-expert to recognise as misleading.
Together, the papers raise important questions about the difference between linguistic fluency, knowledge and expertise, and what this means for our increasing reliance on generative AI.
About the speaker
Dr Simon Thorne is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Cardiff School of Technologies. Simon teaches and researches in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, End User Computing, Spreadsheet Error and Human Factors. Simon is a long standing member of staff having taught at the university for 18 years and is the UCU trade union rep for CST.
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