Language models do not yet achieve explanatory adequacy because language is more than incremental prediction

Abstract

In this commentary, we challenge the idea that Language Models (LMs) provide explanatorily adequate models of human language. Findings from language evolution show that both humans and LMs fail to produce human-like language via inductive biases alone; the communicative function of language is crucial. More generally, both experimental and computational work underscore the fact that language is more than just incremental prediction.