Abstract Recent advances in natural language generation (NLG), such as public accessibility to ChatGPT, have sparked polarised debates about the societal impact of this technology. Popular discourse tends towards either overoptimistic hype that touts the radically transformative potentials of these systems or pessimistic critique of their technical limitations and general ‘stupidity’. Surprisingly, these debates have largely overlooked the exegetical capacities of these systems, which for many users seem to be producing meaningful texts. In this paper, we take an interdisciplinary approach that combines hermeneutics—the study of meaning and interpretation—with prompt engineering—task descriptions embedded in input to NLG systems—to study the extent to which a specific NLG system, ChatGPT, produces texts of hermeneutic value. We design prompts with the goal of optimising hermeneuticity rather than mere factual accuracy, and apply them in four different use cases combining humans and ChatGPT as readers and writers. In most cases, ChatGPT produces readable texts that respond clearly to our requests. However, increasing the specificity of prompts’ task descriptions leads to texts with intensified neutrality, indicating that ChatGPT’s optimisation for factual accuracy may actually be detrimental to the hermeneuticity of its output.

Leah Henrickson

Albert Meroño-Peñuela

AI & Society

AI & SOCIETY：KNOWLEDGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION，是一本国际期刊，出版参考的学术文章、立场文件、辩论、简短的交流以及书籍和其他出版物的评论。该杂志成立于 1987 年，关注社会问题，包括信息、通信和新媒体技术的设计、使用、管理和政策，特别强调文化、社会、认知、经济、伦理和哲学影响。社会范围广泛，具有很强的跨学科性。我们欢迎来自信息技术、人文、社会科学、艺术和科学等各个领域的研究人员和从业者的贡献和参与。这包括更广泛的社会和文化影响，例如对治理、安全、可持续性、身份、包容、工作生活、企业和社区福利以及人们的福祉。鼓励来自不同学科的合着文章。人工智能与社会旨在促进对普遍技术对社会的潜在、变革性影响和关键后果的理解。技术创新，包括生物技术、纳米技术和神经科学等新科学，为社会提供了巨大的潜力，但也带来了生存风险。植根于以人为本的科学技术传统，该期刊充当催化剂、推动者和促进者，参与处理艺术、科学、技术和社会的不同声音和超视距问题。人工智能与社会期望，根据期刊的精神，提交的论文应就研究的社会层面，特别是对社会的益处、影响和影响提供实质性和明确的论据。这可能包括人工智能系统的信任、偏见、隐私、可靠性、责任和能力等因素。这些论点应通过对该领域当前研究的批判性评论来验证。 CURMUDGEON CORNER 将保留其固执己见的精神。该期刊分为三个部分：A) 完整的学术文章； B) 战略构想、批判性审查和反思； C) 学生论坛面向新兴研究人员和新声音，在期刊顾问委员会的指导下，将他们正在进行的研究传达给更广泛的学术界；书评和新闻；固执己见的 CURMUDGEON CORNER。原始部分中的论文可能包括原始论文，这些论文以理论、方法、概念或哲学基础为基础。开放论坛部分可能包括战略思想、批判性评论和对当前研究社会的潜在影响。网络研究部门的论文为社会领域的理论和方法基础做出了重大贡献。这些将是多位作者的论文，其中包括每个作者对论文的贡献的摘要。原创、开放论坛和网络论文经过同行评审。学生论坛部分可能包括正在进行的研究的理论、方法和应用方向，包括案例研究，以及背景行动研究经验。本节中的论文通常为单人作者，也经过正式审查。 CURMUDGEON CORNER 是一个关于技术、艺术、科学和社会趋势的简短专栏，着重评论研究界和更广泛社会关注的问题。正常字长：原创和网络文章 10K，开放论坛 8K，学生论坛 6K，CURMUDGEON 1K。原创和开放论坛 (4)、网络 (10)、学生 (3) 和 CURMUDGEON (2) 文章的共同作者限制的例外将被视为他们的特殊贡献。请不要通过电子邮件发送您的提交，而是使用“提交手稿”按钮。致作者的注意事项：期刊希望其作者在提交的内容中包括：A) 确认其手稿在非商业和学术网站上的预接受/预出版版本。B)图片：从版权所有者/原始来源获得许可。C) 在与人进行研究时，获得其伦理委员会的正式许可。

AI & SOCIETY: KNOWLEDGE, CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION is an international journal that publishes scholarly articles, position papers, debates, brief communications, and reviews of books and other publications. Established in 1987, the journal focuses on social issues, particularly the design, use, management, and policy of information, communication, and new media technologies, with an emphasis on cultural, social, cognitive, economic, ethical, and philosophical impacts. The journal has a broad social scope and a strong interdisciplinary character, welcoming contributions from researchers and practitioners across fields such as information technology, humanities, social sciences, arts, and sciences. It explores wider social and cultural impacts, including governance, security, sustainability, identity, inclusion, work-life balance, corporate and community welfare, and human well-being. The journal encourages co-authored articles from different disciplines and aims to enhance understanding of the potential transformative impacts and critical consequences of ubiquitous technologies on society. Technological innovations, including biotechnology, nanotechnology, and neuroscience, offer great potential for society but also pose existential risks. Rooted in a human-centered tradition of science and technology, the journal acts as a catalyst, promoter, and facilitator, engaging with diverse voices and transdisciplinary issues in art, science, technology, and society. In line with the journal's spirit, submitted papers should provide substantial and clear arguments regarding the social dimensions of the research, particularly concerning the benefits, impacts, and implications for society, including factors such as trust, bias, privacy, reliability, accountability, and capability of AI systems. These arguments should be validated through critical reviews of current research in the field. The journal is divided into three sections: A) Full academic articles; B) Strategic ideas, critical reviews, and reflections; C) Student forum aimed at emerging researchers and new voices, conveying their ongoing research to the broader academic community under the guidance of the journal's advisory board; along with book reviews, news, and the opinionated CURMUDGEON CORNER. Papers in the original section may include original research based on theoretical, methodological, conceptual, or philosophical foundations. The open forum section may include strategic thoughts, critical reviews, and potential impacts on current research society. Papers in the network research section make significant contributions to the theoretical and methodological foundations of the social field, typically involving multiple authors and summarizing each author's contributions to the paper. Original, open forum, and network papers undergo peer review. The student forum section may include theoretical, methodological, and applied directions of ongoing research, including case studies and background action research experiences, typically authored by a single author and also undergoes formal review. CURMUDGEON CORNER is a brief column on trends in technology, art, science, and society, focusing on issues of concern to the research community and the broader society. Normal word lengths: original and network articles 10K, open forum 8K, student forum 6K, CURMUDGEON 1K. Exceptions to the co-author limits for original and open forum (4), network (10), student (3), and CURMUDGEON (2) articles will be considered as special contributions. Please do not submit your manuscript via email; instead, use the 'Submit Manuscript' button. Notes to authors: The journal expects its authors to include in their submissions: A) confirmation that their manuscript has a pre-acceptance/pre-publication version on non-commercial and academic websites; B) images: permission obtained from copyright holders/original sources; C) formal approval from their ethics committee when conducting research involving human subjects.

《AI and Society：Knowledge, Culture and Communication》是一本国际期刊，出版学术文章、立场文件、辩论、简短交流以及书籍和其他出版物的评论。该期刊成立于1987年，关注社会问题，特别是信息、通信和新媒体技术的设计、使用、管理和政策，强调文化、社会、认知、经济、伦理和哲学的影响。期刊的社会范围广泛，具有强烈的跨学科性，欢迎来自信息技术、人文、社会科学、艺术和科学等领域的研究人员和从业者的贡献。期刊探讨更广泛的社会和文化影响，包括治理、安全、可持续性、身份、包容、工作生活、企业和社区福利以及人们的福祉。期刊鼓励来自不同学科的合著文章，旨在促进对技术对社会潜在、变革性影响和关键后果的理解。技术创新，如生物技术、纳米技术和神经科学等，为社会提供了巨大潜力，但也带来了生存风险。期刊根植于以人为本的科学技术传统，充当催化剂、推动者和促进者，参与处理艺术、科学、技术和社会的不同声音和超视距问题。根据期刊的精神，提交的论文应就研究的社会层面，特别是对社会的益处、影响和影响提供实质性和明确的论据，包括人工智能系统的信任、偏见、隐私、可靠性、责任和能力等因素。这些论点应通过对该领域当前研究的批判性评论来验证。期刊分为三个部分：A) 完整的学术文章；B) 战略构想、批判性审查和反思；C) 学生论坛，面向新兴研究人员和新声音，在期刊顾问委员会的指导下，将他们的研究传达给更广泛的学术界；此外还有书评和新闻，以及固执己见的CURMUDGEON CORNER。原始部分中的论文可能包括以理论、方法、概念或哲学基础为基础的原创论文。开放论坛部分可能包括战略思想、批判性评论和对当前研究社会的潜在影响。网络研究部门的论文为社会领域的理论和方法基础做出了重大贡献，通常为多位作者的论文，并包括每个作者对论文的贡献的摘要。原创、开放论坛和网络论文经过同行评审。学生论坛部分可能包括正在进行的研究的理论、方法和应用方向，包括案例研究和背景行动研究经验，通常为单人作者，也经过正式审查。CURMUDGEON CORNER是一个关于技术、艺术、科学和社会趋势的简短专栏，着重评论研究界和更广泛社会关注的问题。正常字数：原创和网络文章10K，开放论坛8K，学生论坛6K，CURMUDGEON 1K。原创和开放论坛（4）、网络（10）、学生（3）和CURMUDGEON（2）文章的共同作者限制的例外将被视为他们的特殊贡献。请不要通过电子邮件发送您的提交，而是使用“提交手稿”按钮。致作者的注意事项：期刊希望其作者在提交的内容中包括：A) 确认其手稿在非商业和学术网站上的预接受/预出版版本；B) 图片：从版权所有者/原始来源获得许可；C) 在与人进行研究时，获得其伦理委员会的正式许可。

AI and Society

Prompting meaning: a hermeneutic approach to optimising prompt engineering with ChatGPT

This paper takes an interdisciplinary approach that combines hermeneutics—the study of meaning and interpretation—with prompt engineering—task descriptions embedded in input to NLG systems—to study the extent to which a specific NLG system, ChatGPT, produces texts ofHermeneutic value.

Prompting meaning: a hermeneutic approach to optimising prompt engineering with ChatGPT

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
COMPUTER SCIENCE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE	2