The prestigious journal Science has recently published an article which the School of Planning's Prof. Dawn Parker helped to co-author. The article contains discussion amongst researchers within the field of social science from University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, Yale University and University of Pennsylvania on the role that AI can play in the future of the research profession.
Dr.
Dawn
Parker
explores
the
intersections
of
AI
and
planning,
specifically
how
large
language
models
(LLMs)
can
be
used
to
develop
rules
for
agent-based
models,
which
are
like
SimCity
simulation
models.
But
there
are
other
uses.
"Large
language
models
might
present
new
and
different
opportunities
for
citizen
engagement,
but
there
are
a
lot
of
open
questions,"
she
said.
"Can
we
ask
for
a
certain
population
to
be
represented
in
a
large
language
model,
and
then
query
them
for
their
opinions,
or
even
their
responses
to
a
design,
instead
of
convening
a
focus
group
and
having
conversations
with
living
participants?
Can
we
use
LLM's
to
pretest
surveys
or
focus
group
questionnaires?
Can
we
use
LLM's
to
gauge
possible
sentiment
in
reactions
to
a
new
proposal?
Will
developers
and
consultants
be
using
these
models
in
that
way?
How
valid
should
and
would
such
evidence
be
considered
in
an
evaluation
of
a
planning
application
or
a
council
hearing?"
Moving
forward
she
asserts
that
guidelines
must
be
established
for
the
governance
of
LLMs
in
research
and
LLMs
must
be
open-source
"meaning
that
their
algorithms
and
ideally
data
are
available
to
all
to
scrutinize,
test,
and
modify.
Only
by
maintaining
transparency
and
replicability
can
we
ensure
that
AI-assisted
social
science
research
truly
contributes
to
our
understanding
of
human
experience.”
For further details and a link to the full article, please see the University of Waterloo's recent news item on the matter.