Theory of Mind Imitation by LLMs for Physician-Like Human Evaluation

Abstract Aligning the Theory of Mind (ToM) capabilities of Large Language Models (LLMs) with human cognitive processes enables them to imitate physician behavior. This study evaluates LLMs abilities such as Belief and Knowledge, Reasoning and Problem-Solving, Communication and Language Skills, Emotional and Social Intelligence, Self-Awareness, and Metacognition in performing human-like evaluations of Foundation Models. We used a dataset composed of clinical questions, reference answers, and LLM-generated responses based on guidelines for the prevention of heart disease. Comparing GPT-4 to human experts across ToM abilities, we found the highest Emotional and Social Intelligence agreement using the Brennan-Prediger coefficient. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of LLM’s cognitive capabilities and highlights their potential role in augmenting or complementing human clinical assessments. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Funding Statement This study did not receive any funding. Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes Footnotes Correction of author name: Moises Auron. Data Availability All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.