ASAS-NANP SYMPOSIUM: MATHEMATICAL MODELING IN ANIMAL NUTRITION: The Evolution of Large Language Models and Their...

The rapid rise of large language models (LLM) is reshaping the scientific landscape, transitioning from early statistical language models to advanced transformer-based architectures capable of synthesizing knowledge across disciplines. While their predictive capacity and scalability have opened new avenues in data analysis, hypothesis generation, and decision support, concerns remain regarding bias, hallucination, reproducibility, and ethical governance. In animal sciences, LLM are gradually applied to challenges in nutrition modeling, animal health, genetic selection, and sustainability. Precision nutrition has benefited from LLM-driven synthesis of feed and metabolic data, enabling individualized feeding strategies and improved resource efficiency. In animal health, domain-specific systems have demonstrated applications in diagnostics and epidemiological monitoring. LLM is augmenting genomic analyses to accelerate marker discovery and breeding optimization, while sustainability efforts employ them to model greenhouse gas emissions, feed additives, and adaptation to climatic stressors. Notably, decision-support platforms demonstrate how domain-specialized LLM can bridge mechanistic knowledge with predictive analytics, enhancing knowledge transfer and empowering livestock producers. However, risks associated with overreliance, recursive reuse of LLM outputs in model development, and pseudo-expertise underscore the critical importance of human oversight. Unlike mechanistic models, which embed biological causality, LLM are entirely data-driven and may confidently propagate errors if trained on ill-conditioned datasets. Responsible use requires transparent reporting, validation, and bias auditing, with domain-specific fine-tuning. Open-source models can enhance reproducibility and trust, but they also raise financial and security concerns. LLM must be guided by transparency, accountability, and fairness to ensure they complement, rather than replace, human expertise. By advancing inquiry and livestock management, LLM hold the potential to support sustainable food production systems if deployed responsibly. Rather than full training, most applications will rely on fine-tuning and augmentation, which are more sustainable and adaptable strategies. This review intends to promote critical literacy and responsible adoption of LLM in research, education, and livestock decision-support systems for animal scientists, nutrition modelers, and extension professionals.