Are Language Models Models?
Computation and Language
2026-01-16 v1 Artificial Intelligence
Abstract
Futrell and Mahowald claim LMs "serve as model systems", but an assessment at each of Marr's three levels suggests the claim is clearly not true at the implementation level, poorly motivated at the algorithmic-representational level, and problematic at the computational theory level. LMs are good candidates as tools; calling them cognitive models overstates the case and unnecessarily feeds LLM hype.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2601.10421,
title = {Are Language Models Models?},
author = {Philip Resnik},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.10421},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
5 pages. This is an invited commentary under review at Behavioral and Brain Sciences