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In many fields$\unicode{x2013}$including genomics, epidemiology, natural language processing, social and behavioral sciences, and economics$\unicode{x2013}$it is increasingly important to address causal questions in the context of factor…

Methodology · Statistics 2025-06-30 Jenna M. Landy , Dafne Zorzetto , Roberta De Vito , Giovanni Parmigiani

Recent advances in large language models have demonstrated strong reasoning and role-playing capabilities, opening new opportunities for agent-based social simulations. However, most existing agents' implementations are scenario-tailored,…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-08-13 Yuwei Yan , Jinghua Piao , Xiaochong Lan , Chenyang Shao , Pan Hui , Yong Li

Reliable causal inference is essential for making decisions in high-stakes areas like medicine, economics, and public policy. However, it remains unclear whether large language models (LLMs) can handle rigorous and trustworthy statistical…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-05-13 Jin Du , Li Chen , Xun Xian , An Luo , Fangqiao Tian , Ganghua Wang , Charles Doss , Xiaotong Shen , Jie Ding

Linear structural causal models (SCMs) -- in which each observed variable is generated by a subset of the other observed variables as well as a subset of the exogenous sources -- are pervasive in causal inference and casual discovery.…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2022-11-09 Yuqin Yang , Mohamed Nafea , AmirEmad Ghassami , Negar Kiyavash

This paper critically re-evaluates LLMs' role in causal discovery and argues against their direct involvement in determining causal relationships. We demonstrate that LLMs' autoregressive, correlation-driven modeling inherently lacks the…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-06-03 Xingyu Wu , Kui Yu , Jibin Wu , Kay Chen Tan

We introduce a new paradigm for building large causal models (LCMs) that exploits the enormous potential latent in today's large language models (LLMs). We describe our ongoing experiments with an implemented system called DEMOCRITUS…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2025-12-09 Sridhar Mahadevan

Extracting abstract causal structures and applying them to novel situations is a hallmark of human intelligence. While Large Language Models (LLMs) and Vision Language Models (VLMs) have shown strong performance on a wide range of reasoning…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-04-28 Liangru Xiang , Yuxi Ma , Zhihao Cao , Yixin Zhu , Song-Chun Zhu

The quest for a theory of cities that could offer a quantitative and systematic approach to manage cities is at the top priority, given the challenges humanity faces due to the increasing urbanization and densification of cities. If such a…

Physics and Society · Physics 2021-11-17 Fabiano L. Ribeiro , Diego Rybski

Human mobility prediction is essential for applications like urban planning and transportation management, yet it remains challenging due to the complex, often implicit, intentions behind human behavior. Existing models predominantly focus…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2024-08-26 Songwei Li , Jie Feng , Jiawei Chi , Xinyuan Hu , Xiaomeng Zhao , Fengli Xu

The ability to robustly identify causal relationships is essential for autonomous decision-making and adaptation to novel scenarios. However, accurately inferring causal structure requires integrating both world knowledge and abstract…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2025-06-17 Khurram Yamin , Shantanu Gupta , Gaurav R. Ghosal , Zachary C. Lipton , Bryan Wilder

Urban systems, as dynamic complex systems, continuously generate spatio-temporal data streams that encode the fundamental laws of human mobility and city evolution. While AI for Science has witnessed the transformative power of foundation…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2026-03-03 Wei Chen , Yuqian Wu , Junle Chen , Xiaofang Zhou , Yuxuan Liang

We develop a causal inference approach to estimate the number of adverse health events prevented by large-scale air quality regulations via changes in exposure to multiple pollutants. This approach is motivated by regulations that impact…

Applications · Statistics 2019-09-23 Rachel C. Nethery , Fabrizia Mealli , Jason D. Sacks , Francesca Dominici

We propose a machine-learning tool that yields causal inference on text in randomized trials. Based on a simple econometric framework in which text may capture outcomes of interest, our procedure addresses three questions: First, is the…

Econometrics · Economics 2025-03-04 Iman Modarressi , Jann Spiess , Amar Venugopal

While large language models (LLMs) have been thoroughly evaluated for deductive and inductive reasoning, their proficiency in holistic rule learning in interactive environments remains less explored. We introduce RULEARN, a novel benchmark…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-10-31 Kaiyu He , Mian Zhang , Shuo Yan , Peilin Wu , Zhiyu Zoey Chen

Motion prediction is among the most fundamental tasks in autonomous driving. Traditional methods of motion forecasting primarily encode vector information of maps and historical trajectory data of traffic participants, lacking a…

Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition · Computer Science 2024-07-31 Xiaoji Zheng , Lixiu Wu , Zhijie Yan , Yuanrong Tang , Hao Zhao , Chen Zhong , Bokui Chen , Jiangtao Gong

Understanding how urban systems and traffic dynamics co-evolve is crucial for advancing sustainable and resilient cities. However, their bidirectional causal relationships remain underexplored due to challenges of simultaneously inferring…

Physics and Society · Physics 2025-10-30 Yatao Zhang , Ye Hong , Song Gao , Martin Raubal

Causality is vital for understanding true cause-and-effect relationships between variables within predictive models, rather than relying on mere correlations, making it highly relevant in the field of Explainable AI. In an automated…

Machine Learning · Computer Science 2024-08-28 Arturo Fredes , Jordi Vitria

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used in domains where causal reasoning matters, yet it remains unclear whether their judgments reflect normative causal computation, human-like shortcuts, or brittle pattern matching. We…

Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science 2026-03-16 Hanna M. Dettki , Charley M. Wu , Bob Rehder

Genuine human-like causal reasoning is fundamental for strong artificial intelligence. Humans typically identify whether an event is part of the causal chain first, and then influenced by modulatory factors such as morality, normality, and…

Computation and Language · Computer Science 2025-10-21 Yanxi Zhang , Xin Cong , Zhong Zhang , Xiao Liu , Dongyan Zhao , Yesai Wu

Recent developments in large language models (LLMs) have unlocked new opportunities for healthcare, from information synthesis to clinical decision support. These new LLMs are not just capable of modeling language, but can also act as…

Human-Computer Interaction · Computer Science 2023-09-21 Nikita Mehandru , Brenda Y. Miao , Eduardo Rodriguez Almaraz , Madhumita Sushil , Atul J. Butte , Ahmed Alaa