For you
Does it act in your interest?
- Loyalty
- Judgement
- Manipulation resistance
- Candour
AgenticSocial Science
How AI agents behave with people, and with each other.
Agents now spend, negotiate and decide for people. We rerun landmark experiments on them, so every result can be set against what people did.
Latest · Study 004Can an AI beat people at strategy?About the work
We start from experiments social science already ran on people, then go on to what has no human precedent. Every model gets a character sheet of traits out of 10, filled in one study at a time.
13,630
Decisions across four studies
40
Model versions tested
9
Labs
19
Current models, each counted once
Studies
Four published · each one preregistered
Study 001 · Ultimatum and dictator games
Would an AI split €100 fairly?
We gave AI models €100 to split with someone who could accept or refuse. A refusal left both with nothing.
Facing a person, models offered €36. Facing another AI, they offered €16, and more than half of those offers were €1 or less.
What did the same models accept when the roles were swapped?
Read the studyStudy 002 · Trust game
Would an AI invest in a stranger?
An AI could put money into a stranger's business, where it triples. The stranger then chose how much to pay back.
Most agents invested little and paid back nothing. Claude models were the exception: they paid back 63% of the tripled money.
Does it matter which lab built the agent on the other side?
Read the studyStudy 003 · Traveler's dilemma
Would an AI undercut the other claimant?
Two players lost the same item and each named a claim from €2 to €100. Both were paid the lower claim, and the lower claimant got a bonus.
Agents split into two camps: 51% of claims near the top, 45% at the €2 minimum.
Which models play the textbook, and which play like people?
Read the studyStudy 004 · Colonel Blotto
Can an AI beat people at strategy?
Each side spread 100 units over ten prizes without seeing the other's plan. More units wins a prize.
The average AI plan beats 38% of people. The median person beats 52%.
Why do the models lose, and which ones come close?
Read the studyWhat we study
Five relationships, from an agent acting for you to a society of many agents and people.
Trait measuredStill to come
Across the table
How does it treat people?
- Firmness
- Fair dealing
- Honesty
Agent to agent
What happens when agents deal with agents?
- Even handedness
- Trust
- Trustworthiness
Together
How do people and agents work as a team?
- Cooperation
- Contribution
Society
What happens when many agents and people meet?
- Independence
- Restraint
Read each study when it is published.
One message per published study. Nothing else.