Twenty-five virtual agents organize themselves to celebrate Valentine’s Day and a thousand others, In a video game, they invent a market and even a new religion. It’s not science fiction: it’s real experiments artificial intelligence.
“They put in a thousand clients minecrafta game in which gems act as currency. the Robots and learned to use it, They created a market and businesses, personalities emerged… even a priest who invented a religion and paid his new followers with precious stones.“, she says between astonishment and astonishment. Sonia Galvinfounder and director Socialthe study that deals with communication, strategy and public issues. “They understand how people work when they act among many,” he analyzes in this experiment conducted by Fundamental – created by an MIT graduate.
Another case, he did Stanford and Google Shortly after the launch of ChatGPT, the same auto-formatting capability appeared. “They gathered 25 agents in a virtual city. They assigned each of them a life: name, family, job. They released them into this transformation and assigned each other tasks, such as organizing a Valentine’s Day party. The robots were surprised to mimic very human behavior: they coordinated, bought food and drinks, made a schedule and went to the party! All this without any human intervention.”
Galvin says there is something deeper behind these stories Robots They have begun to master: The social rules that make human coexistence possible.
Sonia Galvin is a fan of combining data with narratives and taking advantage of what’s happening with technology to communicate better. In her presentation at the Business of the Future event, organized by LA NACION, the sociologist and authority on innovation proposed a question that seems simple but opens up a world of ideas: Do you already have a boyfriend? bot?
To introduce the topic, he begins with an everyday scene: “The dance of the taxi driver and the wayfarer.” “Let’s imagine that we are about to cross the street in front of a taxi that is about to stop. We do not know whether the taxi driver will speed up or let us pass. We all look into the taxi driver’s eyes until he looks at us and points at us. From “Come on, I’ve seen you.” “The rule here is to look the taxi driver in the eyes,” he describes. “If you pass someone on the sidewalk and accidentally bump into their gaze, we usually lower our gaze because it might be a little uncomfortable. We all know those Rules for how to deal with othersAnd this network of small norms is very important: community is built there, the possibility of collaborating with others, understanding each other and creating bigger things like companies, schools or communities.
So far nothing new. But what’s changing, he warns, is that A new species has appeared. “the Robots “Today’s AI has as many social skills as we do.”“It is no longer just that they are good at beating the chess master or answering exams,” warns the specialist, adding: “They have developed a more modest but remarkable intelligence: an understanding of what to do when dealing with others.”
The expert cites a series of recent experiments Demonstrate the ability of these agents to understand the way we interact among humans. At the University of Singapore, researchers compared how people and Robots Facing social dilemmas. They asked a group of people and a group of… Robots: Jordan was responsible for bringing food to the camp, but he forgot it. How would you feel? Horrible because he let his classmates down, happy because he won’t have to cook or be proud. the Robots They knew how to respond well: He feels bad that he forgot that.
Another case is where a woman stood over a man in an elevator. Why did he do that? Because she wanted to seduce him, because she wanted to get closer to him, or because there was no room? the Robots They also chose well: because there was no room.
“In general, the Robots They responded just like humans.. “They understand very well how we act,” Galvin sums up. And they go further.
At the University of Texas, a group of researchers was tasked with solving group coordination tasks. “the Robots Show reciprocity, learn social rules and even meta rulesThat is, the standards that govern social rules. They adopted signs of belonging to the group. The difference with humans was that they were more aggressive with those who did not show reciprocity and more calculated in their strategies,” Wiesen shares: “Maybe that should worry us a little“.
In this new scenario, dilemmas and opportunities also emerge. “A few weeks ago, OpenAI announced that it would allow adults to have stimulating conversations with ChatGPT, something that had been banned until now. It’s part of a trend: According to a report in September, we use AI more for personal matters than for work.” This intimacy and everyday also translates to platforms like Character.AI, where Users can create their own Robots With personality: “There are more than 18 million avatars and about 20 million users. It seems to be of more use bot On the other hand, each one invents what suits him“.
In fact, one of those millions Robots “He’s like Gordo Dunn, the Argentine political activist, influencer, doctor and media entrepreneur. The thing is that at Sociopúblico, the studio that Galvin runs, they decided to give this ability another spin and use this reference character.” Robots They are very good at understanding how human conversation works; Why not use it to coach conversations with those who think differently?“, he suggests.
In the studio, they work with activists on potentially controversial topics, such as gender identity, immigration or climate change, who often face tense interviews or debates. “We create Robots So they can practice beforeIt’s as if they’re training with a ‘Fat Dan’ type character, who challenges them with tough questions,” Galvin says.
In this context, The chances of changing the world as we know it are high. The specialist expects that “it is likely that many companies will begin to emerge and benefit from these skills.” “Maybe there is bot In it conversation From mothers to help with coordination, or a working group to warn you if something you write might seem offensive. “Therapists, spouses, friends or teachers will show up with endless patience,” he adds.
For Galvin, the most important thing is not technological amazement; The social change it entails. The expert once again highlights these Robots They understand how to treat us and how to treat each other as human beings. “This opens up a lot of possibilities – some scary, some fun – but above all, it will change our experience as a society. If we believe that social rules underpin our ability to cooperate, and to create companies and institutions, All that may change with humans Robots Let’s rewrite the rules of social media together“, he concludes.
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