For robust research, center values, not technology

Large language models are interesting, but linguistics and cognitive science should be cautious about centering any new technology as a magic bullet. Doing so reinforces the historically “narrow focus” of linguistics identified in the target article, rather than expanding our understanding of human language. We argue that centering values instead of technology is the best way to future-proof scholarly work and to keep finding out new things about language. 

Commentary on Futrell & Mahowald’s “How Linguistics Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Language Models”, Behavioral & Brain Sciences, Forthcoming.