Artificial Leviathan: Exploring Social Evolution of LLM Agents Through the Lens of Hobbesian Social Contract Theory

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Dai, Gordon, Zhang, Weijia, Li, Jinhan, Yang, Siqi, lbe, Chidera Onochie, Rao, Srihas, Caetano, Arthur, Sra, Misha
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2024
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author Dai, Gordon
Zhang, Weijia
Li, Jinhan
Yang, Siqi
lbe, Chidera Onochie
Rao, Srihas
Caetano, Arthur
Sra, Misha
author_facet Dai, Gordon
Zhang, Weijia
Li, Jinhan
Yang, Siqi
lbe, Chidera Onochie
Rao, Srihas
Caetano, Arthur
Sra, Misha
contents The emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) and advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer an opportunity for computational social science research at scale. Building upon prior explorations of LLM agent design, our work introduces a simulated agent society where complex social relationships dynamically form and evolve over time. Agents are imbued with psychological drives and placed in a sandbox survival environment. We conduct an evaluation of the agent society through the lens of Thomas Hobbes's seminal Social Contract Theory (SCT). We analyze whether, as the theory postulates, agents seek to escape a brutish "state of nature" by surrendering rights to an absolute sovereign in exchange for order and security. Our experiments unveil an alignment: Initially, agents engage in unrestrained conflict, mirroring Hobbes's depiction of the state of nature. However, as the simulation progresses, social contracts emerge, leading to the authorization of an absolute sovereign and the establishment of a peaceful commonwealth founded on mutual cooperation. This congruence between our LLM agent society's evolutionary trajectory and Hobbes's theoretical account indicates LLMs' capability to model intricate social dynamics and potentially replicate forces that shape human societies. By enabling such insights into group behavior and emergent societal phenomena, LLM-driven multi-agent simulations, while unable to simulate all the nuances of human behavior, may hold potential for advancing our understanding of social structures, group dynamics, and complex human systems.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_14373
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Artificial Leviathan: Exploring Social Evolution of LLM Agents Through the Lens of Hobbesian Social Contract Theory
Dai, Gordon
Zhang, Weijia
Li, Jinhan
Yang, Siqi
lbe, Chidera Onochie
Rao, Srihas
Caetano, Arthur
Sra, Misha
Artificial Intelligence
Computation and Language
Computers and Society
Human-Computer Interaction
Multiagent Systems
The emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) and advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer an opportunity for computational social science research at scale. Building upon prior explorations of LLM agent design, our work introduces a simulated agent society where complex social relationships dynamically form and evolve over time. Agents are imbued with psychological drives and placed in a sandbox survival environment. We conduct an evaluation of the agent society through the lens of Thomas Hobbes's seminal Social Contract Theory (SCT). We analyze whether, as the theory postulates, agents seek to escape a brutish "state of nature" by surrendering rights to an absolute sovereign in exchange for order and security. Our experiments unveil an alignment: Initially, agents engage in unrestrained conflict, mirroring Hobbes's depiction of the state of nature. However, as the simulation progresses, social contracts emerge, leading to the authorization of an absolute sovereign and the establishment of a peaceful commonwealth founded on mutual cooperation. This congruence between our LLM agent society's evolutionary trajectory and Hobbes's theoretical account indicates LLMs' capability to model intricate social dynamics and potentially replicate forces that shape human societies. By enabling such insights into group behavior and emergent societal phenomena, LLM-driven multi-agent simulations, while unable to simulate all the nuances of human behavior, may hold potential for advancing our understanding of social structures, group dynamics, and complex human systems.
title Artificial Leviathan: Exploring Social Evolution of LLM Agents Through the Lens of Hobbesian Social Contract Theory
topic Artificial Intelligence
Computation and Language
Computers and Society
Human-Computer Interaction
Multiagent Systems
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.14373