Random Silicon Sampling: Simulating Human Sub-Population Opinion Using a Large Language Model Based on Group-Level Demographic Information

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sun, Seungjong, Lee, Eungu, Nan, Dongyan, Zhao, Xiangying, Lee, Wonbyung, Jansen, Bernard J., Kim, Jang Hyun
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Sun, Seungjong
Lee, Eungu
Nan, Dongyan
Zhao, Xiangying
Lee, Wonbyung
Jansen, Bernard J.
Kim, Jang Hyun
author_facet Sun, Seungjong
Lee, Eungu
Nan, Dongyan
Zhao, Xiangying
Lee, Wonbyung
Jansen, Bernard J.
Kim, Jang Hyun
contents Large language models exhibit societal biases associated with demographic information, including race, gender, and others. Endowing such language models with personalities based on demographic data can enable generating opinions that align with those of humans. Building on this idea, we propose "random silicon sampling," a method to emulate the opinions of the human population sub-group. Our study analyzed 1) a language model that generates the survey responses that correspond with a human group based solely on its demographic distribution and 2) the applicability of our methodology across various demographic subgroups and thematic questions. Through random silicon sampling and using only group-level demographic information, we discovered that language models can generate response distributions that are remarkably similar to the actual U.S. public opinion polls. Moreover, we found that the replicability of language models varies depending on the demographic group and topic of the question, and this can be attributed to inherent societal biases in the models. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of mirroring a group's opinion using only demographic distribution and elucidate the effect of social biases in language models on such simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2402_18144
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Random Silicon Sampling: Simulating Human Sub-Population Opinion Using a Large Language Model Based on Group-Level Demographic Information
Sun, Seungjong
Lee, Eungu
Nan, Dongyan
Zhao, Xiangying
Lee, Wonbyung
Jansen, Bernard J.
Kim, Jang Hyun
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
I.2.7
Large language models exhibit societal biases associated with demographic information, including race, gender, and others. Endowing such language models with personalities based on demographic data can enable generating opinions that align with those of humans. Building on this idea, we propose "random silicon sampling," a method to emulate the opinions of the human population sub-group. Our study analyzed 1) a language model that generates the survey responses that correspond with a human group based solely on its demographic distribution and 2) the applicability of our methodology across various demographic subgroups and thematic questions. Through random silicon sampling and using only group-level demographic information, we discovered that language models can generate response distributions that are remarkably similar to the actual U.S. public opinion polls. Moreover, we found that the replicability of language models varies depending on the demographic group and topic of the question, and this can be attributed to inherent societal biases in the models. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of mirroring a group's opinion using only demographic distribution and elucidate the effect of social biases in language models on such simulations.
title Random Silicon Sampling: Simulating Human Sub-Population Opinion Using a Large Language Model Based on Group-Level Demographic Information
topic Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
I.2.7
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.18144