Artificial Intelligence and Dual Contract

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Author: Qi, Qian
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Qi, Qian
author_facet Qi, Qian
contents This paper explores the capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to autonomously design incentive-compatible contracts in dual-principal-agent settings, a relatively unexplored aspect of algorithmic mechanism design. We develop a dynamic model where two principals, each equipped with independent Q-learning algorithms, interact with a single agent. Our findings reveal that the strategic behavior of AI principals (cooperation vs. competition) hinges crucially on the alignment of their profits. Notably, greater profit alignment fosters collusive strategies, yielding higher principal profits at the expense of agent incentives. This emergent behavior persists across varying degrees of principal heterogeneity, multiple principals, and environments with uncertainty. Our study underscores the potential of AI for contract automation while raising critical concerns regarding strategic manipulation and the emergence of unintended collusion in AI-driven systems, particularly in the context of the broader AI alignment problem.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2303_12350
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Artificial Intelligence and Dual Contract
Qi, Qian
Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
General Economics
Economics
This paper explores the capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to autonomously design incentive-compatible contracts in dual-principal-agent settings, a relatively unexplored aspect of algorithmic mechanism design. We develop a dynamic model where two principals, each equipped with independent Q-learning algorithms, interact with a single agent. Our findings reveal that the strategic behavior of AI principals (cooperation vs. competition) hinges crucially on the alignment of their profits. Notably, greater profit alignment fosters collusive strategies, yielding higher principal profits at the expense of agent incentives. This emergent behavior persists across varying degrees of principal heterogeneity, multiple principals, and environments with uncertainty. Our study underscores the potential of AI for contract automation while raising critical concerns regarding strategic manipulation and the emergence of unintended collusion in AI-driven systems, particularly in the context of the broader AI alignment problem.
title Artificial Intelligence and Dual Contract
topic Artificial Intelligence
Computers and Society
General Economics
Economics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.12350