Researchers studying Large Language Models (aka AIs like ChatGPT or Claude) look at them through human metaphorical lenses - and that’s potentially problematic, according to a team from the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory in China.
”Researchers map LLMs onto familiar domains, from physics and neuroscience to psychology and sociology, each illuminating specific facets while obscuring others,” they say. But, crucially, “This metaphorical projection creates a recursive loop of anthropomorphism.”
Humans think in metaphor: they can’t not.
But, the team asks, what if LLMs don’t? What if each LLM constructs its own subjective reality from its own environment and representations?
Monica Monet shared a story this week about how she used Clean Language with a multicultural team in an international organisation in Geneva recently. Things felt fragile following significant budget and headcount cuts.
She explained: “Headcount had been reduced - and with it something less visible but equally important: trust, motivation, energy, collaboration, and how conflict was handled…
“Why Clean Language? The quickest way to lose trust in a fragile team is to assume you already understand its experience.
”Clean Language invites people to discover their own metaphors before any framework gets in the way…
“The metaphors - bridges, gardens, orchestras - became more than images. They became a shared vocabulary the team can continue to use. That's the real outcome: not another list of action items, but a language the team owns.”
New research suggests that discussing differences of opinion on politically charged topics can bring us closer together in our viewpoints.
Helen Slocombe, who uses and champions Clean Language in her work with people at the end of their lives, has won a top award from her employers, HCRG Care Group.
In her citation for the Heart Award, Helen was recognised for “the exceptional kindness, empathy and humanity she brings to her work every day. Supporting patients and families through some of life's most difficult moments, Helen was commended for her ability to create space for meaningful conversations, helping families navigate challenging decisions with compassion and understanding.”
And, she puts some of this success down to her use of Clean Language in her work.
Metaphorum is the global online festival celebrating Clean Language and its ever-expanding universe of applications.
It’s partly an organized festival, so you can make the most of your participation, and partly an open-space-like unconference, where practitioners of Clean Language, Clean Space, and Emergent Knowledge and other clean modalities come together to share, create, and connect. Together we co-create a thrilling day of deep dives into personal and professional development, and everything in between.
For you, what would make attending this event a complete no-brainer - something so useful and enjoyable that you couldn’t possibly miss it? I asked Caitlin Walker and Shaun Hotchkiss this the other day, and their answers were fascinating.
Drop me an email or DM and let me know!
Students at a California high school have been introduced to Clean Language as part of an initiative to help people feel safer to have difficult conversations.
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