Revealing Life Preferences Through LLMs
Large Language Models (LLMs) can reveal human preferences regarding life choices such as income and working conditions. A study using OpenAI's GPT-5.4 found that LLM predictions align closely with human choices. This suggests that LLMs could serve as a cost-effective tool for understanding human preferences.
- ▪LLMs are trained on extensive human writing and can predict life preferences.
- ▪The study involved a representative sample of Americans choosing between pairs of life stories.
- ▪LLM valuations of life attributes were found to be similar to human responses.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Revealing Life Preferences Through LLMs by Tyler Cowen May 16, 2026 at 2:57 pm in Data Source Philosophy Web/Tech Here is some Weberian verstehen (or is it?), but from unexpected quarters: Large Language Models (LLMs) are trained on a prodigious corpus of human writing and may reveal human preferences over characteristics of life courses, such as income, longevity, and working conditions. We present OpenAI’s GPT-5.4 and a broadly representative sample of Americans with pairs of life stories and ask them to choose the life they would prefer for themselves. A person’s choice is better predicted by the LLM’s choice than by another person’s choice over the same stories, and LLM valuations of several life attributes are similar to those derived from human responses.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Marginal Revolution.
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