Binding the Person-Specific Approach to Modern AI in the Human Screenome Project: Moving past Generalizability to Transferability

Multivariate Behav Res. 2023 Jul 13:1-9. doi: 10.1080/00273171.2023.2229305. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Advances in ability to comprehensively record individuals' digital lives and in AI modeling of those data facilitate new possibilities for describing, predicting, and generating a wide variety of behavioral processes. In this paper, we consider these advances from a person-specific perspective, including whether the pervasive concerns about generalizability of results might be productively reframed with respect to transferability of models, and how self-supervision and new deep neural network architectures that facilitate transfer learning can be applied in a person-specific way to the super-intensive longitudinal data arriving in the Human Screenome Project. In developing the possibilities, we suggest Molenaar add a statement to the person-specific Manifesto - "In short, the concerns about generalizability commonly leveled at the person-specific paradigm are unfounded and can be fully and completely replaced with discussion and demonstrations of transferability."

Keywords: Transfer learning; ecological momentary assessment; experience sampling; foundation models.