Gottlieb, Joseph and Kemp, Ethan and Trager, Matthew (2026) How LLMs Might Think. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Do large language models (“LLMs”) think? Daniel Stoljar and Zhihe Vincent Zhang have recently developed an argument from rationality for the claim that LLMs do not think. We contend, however, that the argument from rationality not only falters, but leaves open an intriguing possibility: that LLMs engage only in arational, associative forms of thinking, and have purely associative minds. Our positive claim is that if LLMs think at all, they likely think precisely in this manner.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Gottlieb, Joseph 0000-0001-9014-8487 Kemp, Ethan 0009-0004-5871-373X Trager, Matthew 0009-0001-1204-6378
Keywords:	Large language models, thinking, association, inference, rationality
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence
Depositing User:	Mr Matthew Trager
Date Deposited:	03 Apr 2026 12:47
Last Modified:	03 Apr 2026 12:47
Item ID:	28871
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Cognitive Science Specific Sciences > Artificial Intelligence
Date:	2026
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/28871

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