Reflections and New Directions for Human-Centered Large Language Models

TL;DR

This paper proposes a comprehensive framework for developing human-centered large language models that prioritize human values, ethics, and preferences throughout the entire development and deployment process.

Contribution

It introduces a new framework integrating NLP, HCI, and responsible AI principles to ensure human priorities are central in LLM development.

Findings

Provides human-centered insights for each stage of model development

Emphasizes ongoing consideration of human concerns beyond post-training

Includes a case study on future work with HCLLMs

Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly shaping the private and professional lives of users, with numerous applications in business, education, finance, healthcare, law, and science. With this rise in global influence comes greater urgency to build, evaluate, and deploy these systems in a manner that prioritizes not only technical capabilities but also human priorities. This work presents a framework for developing Human-Centered Large Language Models (HCLLMs), which integrates perspectives from Natural Language Processing (NLP), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and responsible AI. Considering the ethics, economics, and technical objectives of language modeling, we argue that model developers need to address human concerns, preferences, values, and goals, not only during a cursory post-training stage, but rather with rigor and care at every stage of the pipeline. This paper offers human-centered insights and recommendations for developers at each stage, from system design to data sourcing, model training, evaluation, and responsible deployment. Then we conclude with a case study, applying these insights to understand the future of work with HCLLMs.