Mutually assured disruption: why LLMs change the game for child language acquisition research, and vice versa.

Authors

Ben Ambridge

Published in

The Behavioral and brain sciences. Volume 49. Pages e199. Jul 01, 2026. Epub Jul 01, 2026.

Abstract

LLMs change the game for child language acquisition research, because they constitute an existence proof that - counter to most prevailing theoretical accounts - it is possible for learners to acquire a productive system of grammar solely from exposure to individual utterances, without the need for abstract grammatical rules or categories. Conversely, LLM development can benefit from insights from child language research.

PMID:
42380008
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Jul 2026.

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