[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-121596-en":3,"doc-seo-121596-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},121596,7971461741311,"Ophelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000253aff267980c6?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779345379180704826",8,"Research & Report","Epistemic Control and the Normativity of Machine Learning-Based Science - Chapter","Recent years have seen machine learning (ML) tools increasingly used in science, raising concerns that scientists may be pushed out of the loop. This chapter evaluates Paul Humphreys’ pessimistic view by developing the notion of epistemic control, defined through two conditions, tracking and tracing, drawing on philosophy of technology. It then argues for a more nuanced picture of how epistemic control can be maintained and how ML shapes methodological commitments with profound epistemic consequences.","To be published in The Role of AI in Science: Epistemological and Methodological Studies (Routledge), edited by David Barack, André Curtis-Trudel, and Darrell Rowbottom  \nEPISTEMIC CONTROL AND THE NORMATIVITY OF MACHINE LEARNING  \nBASED SCIENCE  \nEmanuele Ratti 1  \nDepartment of Philosophy, University of Bristol  \nAbstract. The past few years have witnessed an increasing use of machine learning (ML) tools in science. Paul Humphreys has argued that, because of specific characteristics of ML systems, human scientists are pushed out-of-the-loop of science. In this chapter, I investigate to what extent this is true. First, I express these concerns in terms ofwhat I call ‘epistemic control’. I identify two conditions for epistemic control, which I call ‘tracking’ and ‘tracing’, drawing on works in philosophy of technology. With this new understanding of the problem, I then argue against Humphreys’ pessimistic view. Finally, I construct a more nuanced view of epistemic control in ML-based science.  \nKeywords: machine learning; epistemic control; cognitive values; normativity  \n1. INTRODUCTION  \nIn the past few years, there has been a growing interest in the challenges of keeping meaningful control over automated computational tools. The issue of so-called ‘human-in-the-loop’ has been raised especially in the contexts of autonomous weapon systems (Human Rights Watch 2012), public institutions (Danaher 2016), and credit scoring systems (Citron and Pasquale 2014) . The issue is raised because such automated processes are so complex, large-scale, and fast, that humans cannot simply monitor them in ways in which other tools are monitored. More precisely, this problem can be defined as the extent to which humans can keep control over automated tools by deciding when to use them, or preventing that these tools are used in a certain situation, or overseeing how the tools take decisions in specific instances (and, potentially, in all instances). For example, Danaher says that in the case of data mining systems humans “can predetermine the patterns that data-mining algorithms search for (…) can review and scrutinize the recommendations made by algorithms, or they can essentially leave it up to the machines”(2016, p 248) .  \nAn unexplored side of this debate is that such automated computational tools (and in particular AI tools) are used in science as well, and hence the same issues of ‘human-in-the-  \n[1](1 mnl.ratti@gmail.com)[ mnl.ratti@gmail.com](1 mnl.ratti@gmail.com)  \nloop’ and human control potentially apply in the context of scientific practice. Where scientific processes are automated, we must make sure that there is proper human oversight to ensure that scientific practice is not led astray by poorly designed or poorly adapted tools. While in the cases mentioned above the payoffs of having humans in the loop are especially ethical and legal, in the case of scientific practice the payoffs are also epistemic. I call this effort of keeping humans-in-the-loop of science ‘epistemic control’, which I will define more precisely in Section 2.  \nThe aim of this chapter is to analyze the relation between the use of machine learning (ML) in science, and human epistemic control. Asking the question of epistemic control in MLbased science is important, given the increasing importance of ML tools in scientific practice, and the control-related issues that have been emerging in this context. In particular, recent analyses of the opacity of ML systems have raised concerns over the unpredictable ways in which ML shapes scientific methodologies and scientific outputs (Creel 2020; Boge 2022) . Latest implementations of large language models in fields like biology or medicine (Mesko and Topol 2023; Bommasani et al 2021) have shown the challenges of controlling the content of the data sets used, how they are processed, and how the models are transferred across different contexts  \nThe structure of the chapter is as follows. In Section 2 I will introduce","cbCaihgb0mTnXsHn","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaihgb0mTnXsHn","pdf",410736,1,22,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# Epistemic Control in Machine Learning-Based Science and Humphreys’ Pessimistic View\n## Epistemic Control","[{\"question\":\"What is the chapter’s main focus regarding machine learning in science?\",\"answer\":\"It analyzes the relationship between ML use in scientific practice and human epistemic control, assessing whether ML can make science “out of human control.”\"},{\"question\":\"How does the chapter define “epistemic control”?\",\"answer\":\"It adapts the idea of meaningful human control to the scientific context, emphasizing that control requires more than just being human-in-the-loop; it also requires the ability to influence and understand the system.\"},{\"question\":\"What are the two conditions for epistemic control proposed in the chapter?\",\"answer\":\"The chapter identifies two conditions—tracking and tracing—developed using resources from philosophy of technology.\"}]","Epistemic Control and the Normativity of Machine Learning-Based Science - Chapter | PDF",1785736409,55,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"epistemic-control-and-the-normativity-of-machine-learning-based-science-chapter","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/epistemic-control-and-the-normativity-of-machine-learning-based-science-chapter/121596/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-04","2026-08-03",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What is the chapter’s main focus regarding machine learning in science?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"It analyzes the relationship between ML use in scientific practice and human epistemic control, assessing whether ML can make science “out of human control.”","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How does the chapter define “epistemic control”?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"It adapts the idea of meaningful human control to the scientific context, emphasizing that control requires more than just being human-in-the-loop; it also requires the ability to influence and understand the system.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What are the two conditions for epistemic control proposed in the chapter?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"The chapter identifies two conditions—tracking and tracing—developed using resources from philosophy of technology.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,102,106,111,116,121,124,129,132,136],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]