The Biology of a Large Language Model (Anthropic)

Nathalie Kirch presented an overview of the recent Anthropic release: On the Biology of a Large Language Model (Lindsey et al., 2025).

Abstract

In this talk, we explored the recent Anthropic Thread: On the Biology of a Large Language Model. It was a thought-provoking investigation into the internal structures, behaviors, and emergent properties of large language models (LLMs). The metaphor between biological systems and artificial intelligence was particularly strong and, this presentation explored how LLMs—like biological organisms—develop internal representations, organize “thought,” and respond adaptively to stimuli via a mechanistic perspective.