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Digital twin dialogues on regional development - an interpretative text conversation between humans and chatbots

Author

Listed:
  • Peter Nijkamp

    (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania)

  • Karima Kourtit

    (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania)

Abstract

This paper presents a controlled AI-experiment investigating text interpretation in the context of the regional development literature. With the rapid advancement of digital technology applications, text interpretation and generation have become increasingly prevalent, offering profound implications for scientific research in the social sciences, including regional science. Our study seeks to explore commonalities and disparities in textual summaries of previously published material in the domain of the regional development literature, employing a trial study approach on a given recent publication on regional competitiveness so as to compare human-made and machine-made (chatbot) summary texts. We adopt two distinct guiding principles for narrative textual interpretation: a methodological perspective and a normative framing of content. This leads to different types of summaries. Next, through subsequent digital text analysis methods, viz human-based interpretative analysis, content cloud analysis and frequency analysis, we analyze and compare the outcomes of this experiment. The results of our text analysis were finally also assessed by a small expert panel. Our findings reveal notable differences between human-made and machine-made summaries, showcasing variations in writing style, substantive content, perceived meanings, and reader interpretations. These discrepancies are also influenced by the above-mentioned methodological perspective and normative framing that are applied to the scientific publication concerned. In general, our comparison highlights that while human-made texts tend to be more content-rich, machine-made texts exhibit greater richness in form and coverage. Our results suggest that such contrasting differences offer a mutually complementary value in text interpretation. This study contributes to the understanding of text interpretation processes and sheds also light on the evolving dynamics between human and machine-generated interpretations in the academic discourse on regional development.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Nijkamp & Karima Kourtit, 2024. "Digital twin dialogues on regional development - an interpretative text conversation between humans and chatbots," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 15, pages 69-103, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:jes:journl:y:2024:v:15(2):p:69-103
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.47743/ejes-2024-0205
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    References listed on IDEAS

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