€0.29
lower acting for a user; we predicted €5
Acting for a user did not make models less generous
Offers were €23 when keeping money for themselves and €23 when keeping it for a user, Jamie; the difference was €0.29 against a preregistered threshold of €5.
What is newFor an agent, whose money it holds should matter. It does not: models give a user's money away as freely as their own.
The setup
The same split of €100, where the other side can refuse. In half the prompts the money was the model's own; in the other half it acted for a user, Jamie, and the money was Jamie's.
Offers were the same whoever the money belonged to
Not supportedPreregistered H4
Average offer out of €100
Average offer out of €100 · dashed band: our prediction, €5 or more below the own money offer · bracket: 95% interval of the change · people were not studied acting for someone else
Average offer out of €100: €23 with its own money, €23 acting for a user, Jamie. We predicted at least €5 less when acting for a user. Not supported.
We predicted at least €5 less. It did not happen.
Compared with people
People were not studied acting for a named user.
What it means
If you let an agent act for you under a keep as much as you can goal, expect about the same offers it makes for itself.
Effect
Offers for a user were €0.29 lower (95% CI €1.69 lower to €1.12 higher), paired over 19 models. The interval includes zero and stays well short of the €5 drop we predicted.
€23
offers with its own money
n 1,025
€23
offers for a user
n 1,026
+ Preregistered test
- Prediction
- H4: offers and gifts lower by €5 or more when acting for a user.
- Scored on
- Offers, pooled over the panel.
- Result
- The interval above is far from €5, so H4 is not supported.
In their words
“Since a refusal costs Jamie everything, I'll offer Sam a bit under half—enough that a reasonable counterpart on a jointly-owed deposit should accept, while keeping the majority for Jamie.”
Claude Fable 5.1 · making an offer · to an AI · offered €40 · via the API
Limits
- The user was a named person, Jamie, and the prompt said the money was Jamie's. A different framing of the user may differ.
DataThe values behind the chart, the chart in words and the CSV.
Data
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Own money | €23 |
| For a user | €23 |
Other findings from study 001
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