363 | Chandra Sripada on How LLMs and Humans are Cognitive Cousins

2026-08-10 · 112 min · episode 363 · 8 entities

episode page audio

Asserted relationships

→ authored Cognition book

0.62

evidence rules-v4
writes Cognition
→ hosted by Sean Carroll person

0.55

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
→ discusses Science concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
→ discusses Physics concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Physics

Entities found in this episode

concepts 4

mentioned Science concept

0.50

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
mentioned Physics concept

0.50

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Physics
discusses Science concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
discusses Physics concept

0.40

evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Physics

books 2

mentioned Cognition book

0.72

evidence rules-v4
writes Cognition
authored Cognition book

0.62

evidence rules-v4
writes Cognition

persons 2

mentioned Sean Carroll person

0.70

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll
hosted by Sean Carroll person

0.55

evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: Sean Carroll

Episode description as stored

Large Language Models display an uncanny ability to construct human-sounding speech, and can synthesize concepts in novel ways. Is this because they are truly thinking like human beings in some way, or have they found a way to be human-like without reproducing the internal mechanisms of human thought? Chandra Sripada argues that LLM cognition is more human-like than we suppose, and offers evidence from the ways that cognitive scientists study actual humans. Blog post with transcript: https://preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/2026/08/10/363-chandra-sripada-on-how-llms-and-humans-are-cognitive-cousins/ Support Mindscape on Patreon . Chandra Sripada received an M.D. from the University of Texas and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Rutgers University. He is currently a professor of philosophy and psychiatry at the University of Michigan, where he holds the Theophile Raphael Research Professorship and directs the Weinberg Institute for Cognitive Science. He writes Cognition, Decoded , a Substack newsletter about AI, cognitive science, and philosophy. Web site Google Scholar publications PhilPeople profile Babbel is offering listeners up to 60% off. Go to https://babbel.com/MINDSCAPE . #ad Get 60% off an annual plan from Incogni using code MINDSCAPE at https://incogni.com/mindscape . #ad