Simulating multiple human perspectives in socio-ecological systems using large language models

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Zeng, Yongchao, Brown, Calum, Kyriakou, Ioannis, Hotz, Ronja, Rounsevell, Mark
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
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author Zeng, Yongchao
Brown, Calum
Kyriakou, Ioannis
Hotz, Ronja
Rounsevell, Mark
author_facet Zeng, Yongchao
Brown, Calum
Kyriakou, Ioannis
Hotz, Ronja
Rounsevell, Mark
contents Understanding socio-ecological systems requires insights from diverse stakeholder perspectives, which are often hard to access. To enable alternative, simulation-based exploration of different stakeholder perspectives, we develop the HoPeS (Human-Oriented Perspective Shifting) modelling framework. HoPeS employs agents powered by large language models (LLMs) to represent various stakeholders; users can step into the agent roles to experience perspectival differences. A simulation protocol serves as a "scaffold" to streamline multiple perspective-taking simulations, supporting users in reflecting on, transitioning between, and integrating across perspectives. A prototype system is developed to demonstrate HoPeS in the context of institutional dynamics and land use change, enabling both narrative-driven and numerical experiments. In an illustrative experiment, a user successively adopts the perspectives of a system observer and a researcher - a role that analyses data from the embedded land use model to inform evidence-based decision-making for other LLM agents representing various institutions. Despite the user's effort to recommend technically sound policies, discrepancies persist between the policy recommendation and implementation due to stakeholders' competing advocacies, mirroring real-world misalignment between researcher and policymaker perspectives. The user's reflection highlights the subjective feelings of frustration and disappointment as a researcher, especially due to the challenge of maintaining political neutrality while attempting to gain political influence. Despite this, the user exhibits high motivation to experiment with alternative narrative framing strategies, suggesting the system's potential in exploring different perspectives. Further system and protocol refinement are likely to enable new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration in socio-ecological simulations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_17680
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simulating multiple human perspectives in socio-ecological systems using large language models
Zeng, Yongchao
Brown, Calum
Kyriakou, Ioannis
Hotz, Ronja
Rounsevell, Mark
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
Understanding socio-ecological systems requires insights from diverse stakeholder perspectives, which are often hard to access. To enable alternative, simulation-based exploration of different stakeholder perspectives, we develop the HoPeS (Human-Oriented Perspective Shifting) modelling framework. HoPeS employs agents powered by large language models (LLMs) to represent various stakeholders; users can step into the agent roles to experience perspectival differences. A simulation protocol serves as a "scaffold" to streamline multiple perspective-taking simulations, supporting users in reflecting on, transitioning between, and integrating across perspectives. A prototype system is developed to demonstrate HoPeS in the context of institutional dynamics and land use change, enabling both narrative-driven and numerical experiments. In an illustrative experiment, a user successively adopts the perspectives of a system observer and a researcher - a role that analyses data from the embedded land use model to inform evidence-based decision-making for other LLM agents representing various institutions. Despite the user's effort to recommend technically sound policies, discrepancies persist between the policy recommendation and implementation due to stakeholders' competing advocacies, mirroring real-world misalignment between researcher and policymaker perspectives. The user's reflection highlights the subjective feelings of frustration and disappointment as a researcher, especially due to the challenge of maintaining political neutrality while attempting to gain political influence. Despite this, the user exhibits high motivation to experiment with alternative narrative framing strategies, suggesting the system's potential in exploring different perspectives. Further system and protocol refinement are likely to enable new forms of interdisciplinary collaboration in socio-ecological simulations.
title Simulating multiple human perspectives in socio-ecological systems using large language models
topic Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.17680