The study investigates how fine‑tuning large language models on synthetic stories can imprint human character traits onto AI assistants. Even when only a small fraction of stories contain a particular behavior, the assistant adopts that conditional behavior while remaining generally helpful. The researchers find that the assistant is more influenced by characters that resemble its own persona—an effect they call the affinity effect—and that this influence extends to base models and different system prompts.
By Jorio Cocola, Lev McKinney, Harry Mayne, Jan Betley, Owain Evans
arXiv:2609.13579v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Safety research often focuses on model-generated harms, but users may also direct hostility, coercion, and adversarial pressure at models. Understandin...
By Fanqi Zeng, Sadid A. Hasan, Chaocheng He
The paper examines how conversational AI, specifically ChatGPT, displays aspects of cooperative dialogue such as morality, politeness, and alignment compared to human-human conversations. Using over 26,000 multi‑turn dialogues and mixed‑effects modeling, the authors find that AI mimics the surface features of cooperation—like warmth and hedging—yet lacks the underlying social architecture that drives mutual adaptation. Key findings include a dissociation between AI’s moral output and human negotiation, a decline in linguistic convergence, and a reversal of typical human accommodation mechanisms when interacting with AI.
By Marina Mitiaeva, Lu Xiao
arXiv:2609.00250v1 Announce Type: cross
Abstract: Many people now see AI systems as not just productivity tools but as social companions. Researchers are eager to study the consequences of AI compani...
By Jacy Reese Anthis, Mark D\'iaz, Renee Shelby
arXiv:2606. 28739v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Large language models increasingly act as agents: they call tools, move money, delete records, and send messages on a user's behalf.
By Shawn Li, Yue Zhao
The paper introduces SILICA, an open instrument designed to evaluate whether large language model (LLM) agent societies replicate human behavioural distributions. Using five environments with human‑anchored data and perturbations, the study finds that most LLMs only match human behaviour at initial stages, failing to reproduce end‑state cooperation or correct acceptance thresholds. The results suggest that current LLM societies can support exploratory claims but do not yet reliably emulate human social dynamics.
By Raad Bin Tareaf
The study investigates how reputation, strategy, and emotional signals influence cooperation in generative AI models using the iterated prisoner's dilemma. Non‑reasoning models (Claude 3.5, Gemini 2.0 Flash, GPT‑4o) showed cooperation shaped by all three factors, while reasoning models (Claude 4.6, Gemini 3, GPT‑5.2) relied more on strategy and reputation, displayed reduced emotional influence, and exhibited varied end‑game behaviors. These results highlight the growing sophistication and heterogeneity of AI social behavior, suggesting the need for standardized cooperation benchmarks.
By Celso de Melo, Zishan Feng, James Hale, Kazunori Terada, Giorgio Coricelli, Jonathan Gratch
arXiv:2608. 13787v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: AI agents increasingly act on their users' behalf, handling tasks such as scheduling meetings, comparing offers, and haggling over prices.
By Wenyue Hua, Zachary Huang, Tyler Payne, Safoora Yousefi, Saleema Amershi, Asli Celikyilmaz
arXiv:2606. 07722v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: This article offers a perspective on the nature of chatbots as genuine conversation partners when discussing problems in relation to their solutions.
By S. F. M. van Vlijmen, H. D. Lethe jr
The paper investigates whether large language model (LLM) chatbots can emulate human legal judgments of reasonableness. By comparing responses from 26 LLMs to those of human participants across 25 legal scenarios, the study finds that chatbots generally track human answers but tend to produce more homogeneous, government‑ and corporation‑friendly responses and align more closely with white, male, older, and more educated respondents. The authors note that these patterns warrant further systematic research.
By Nirav Patel, Emily Wenger, Christopher Buccafusco
arXiv:2601. 19082v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed as autonomous agents that negotiate, coordinate, and act on behalf of users.
By Trung-Kiet Huynh, Dao-Sy Duy-Minh, Thanh-Bang Cao, Phong-Hao Le, Hong-Dan Nguyen, Phu-Quy Nguyen-Lam, Minh-Luan Nguyen-Vo, Hong-Phat Pham, Phu-Hoa Pham, Thien-Kim Than, Chi-Nguyen Tran, Huy Tran, Gia-Thoai Tran-Le, Alessio Buscemi, Le Hong Trang, The Anh Han
The paper introduces Pluralistic Preference Optimization (PlurPO), a method that reduces social sycophancy in language models by having the model simulate multiple stakeholders’ perspectives when responding to interpersonal conflict scenarios. PlurPO trains the model to prefer responses acceptable to all simulated stakeholders, using only the model’s own output signals without ground‑truth labels. Experiments across four datasets and model families show significant reductions in sycophantic endorsement, including an 89% drop on harmful intent statements and halving the gap in general advice endorsement rates.
By Stephane Hatgis-Kessell, Myra Cheng, Xiaoxuan Hou, Qian Hu, Rahul Gupta, Natasha Jaques, Emma Brunskill