On Evaluating Abstraction and Analogy in Humans and Machines

This article reviews two case studies in which AI systems were evaluated for abstraction and analogy-making capabilities and compared with those of humans. These studies illustrate how AI systems should be evaluated not only for accuracy on benchmark tasks but also for robustness to task variations and for insight into how the system is solving the tasks. These studies also illuminate the need for transparency, interpretability, and scientifically informed experimental methodology in AI evaluations.

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Publication Details

Journal
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Published
2026-04-21
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/09637214261433528
Primary Topic
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

On Evaluating Abstraction and Analogy in Humans and Machines

Melanie Mitchell
Current Directions in Psychological Science
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)
article

On Evaluating Abstraction and Analogy in Humans and Machines

Melanie Mitchell
article en

Abstract

This article reviews two case studies in which AI systems were evaluated for abstraction and analogy-making capabilities and compared with those of humans. These studies illustrate how AI systems should be evaluated not only for accuracy on benchmark tasks but also for robustness to task variations and for insight into how the system is solving the tasks. These studies also illuminate the need for transparency, interpretability, and scientifically informed experimental methodology in AI evaluations.

Current Directions in Psychological Science
Santa Fe Institute (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 5%
Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)
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On Evaluating Abstraction and Analogy in Humans and Machines — Melanie Mitchell · Current Directions in Psychological Science (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS