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Can Generative AI Produce Novel Evidence?

Khosrowi, Donal; FINN, Finola

2025 • In Philosophy of Science, First View, p. 1-12

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https://hdl.handle.net/10993/65636

DOI
10.1017/psa.2025.10123

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Keywords :

Generative AI; epistemology; evidence; hypotheses

Abstract :

[en] Researchers in history and the historical sciences explore the use of generative AI (GenAI) systems for reconstructing destroyed artifacts. This paper poses a novel question: can such GenAI systems generate evidence that provides new knowledge about the world or can they only produce hypotheses that we might seek evidence for? Exploring responses to this question, the paper argues that 1) GenAI outputs can at least be understood as higher-order evidence (Parker 2022) and 2) may also produce de novo synthetic evidence.

Disciplines :

Philosophy & ethics

Author, co-author :

Khosrowi, Donal; Leibniz University Hannover

FINN, Finola ; University of Luxembourg > Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History (C2DH) > Digital History and Historiography

External co-authors :

yes

Language :

English

Title :

Can Generative AI Produce Novel Evidence?

Publication date :

27 August 2025

Journal title :

Philosophy of Science

ISSN :

0031-8248

Publisher :

Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom

Special issue title :

Proceedings of the 2024 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association

Volume :

First View

Pages :

1-12

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2025.10123

Name of the research project :

Machine Discovery and Creation Project

Funders :

Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK)

Funding number :

Grant No.: 11-7620-1155/2021; Grant No. FNR13307816

Funding text :

The research for this article was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony (MWK), Grant No.: 11-7620-1155/2021. Towards its completion, this research was also supported by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR) (Grant No. 13307816).

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