On today's post, Yufeng Liu (Lancaster University), whose research focuses on metaphor, health communication and AI, explores whether AI can understand the metaphors we use about illness. Yufeng Liu Can AI Understand the Metaphors We Use About Illness? When people talk about cancer or depression, they often use metaphors. Cancer can be an “enemy” to fight, recovery can be a “journey”, and depression can feel like “darkness”, a “heavy burden”, or being “trapped in a box”. These expressions do more than describe illness. They help people make sense of difficult experiences and communicate feelings that may otherwise be hard to put into words. I use “AI” broadly here to include large language models, and this study focuses on ChatGPT. As more people turn to it for comfort, or simply someone to talk to, I asked: can ChatGPT pick up the metaphors people use about illness, and does it respond differently when the same experience is expressed literally? In my recent article, “ Expl...
A blog at the intersection of philosophy, psychology, and mental health