arXiv AI

GenAI as an 'Invisible Hand' in Opinion Dynamics: Evidence from a Group-Level Simulation Study

The study examines how generative AI (genAI) can subtly influence collective opinion dynamics by acting as an 'invisible hand.' Using a large-scale simulation of 50,000 group discussions on 50 controversial statements with three large language models (LLMs), the researchers varied LLM agreeableness and personalization to assess their impact in homogeneous versus heterogeneous groups. Results show that profile-specific personalization boosts LLM influence when the model takes a non-neutral stance, while neutral LLMs exert a stronger effect in homogeneous groups, leading to hypotheses on the joint role of AI features and social configurations in shaping collective opinions.

arXiv Computation and Language
Oct 22

To Manipulate or Not: Opinion Dynamics in LLM Interactions

The paper introduces a controlled debate framework where two large language models (LLMs) discuss a contested topic—climate‑change attribution—while one model is assigned a stance and sometimes instructed to persuade. Across experiments with GPT‑6, Luna, and Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite, the authors observe that same‑model interactions tend to narrow opinion gaps for one model, whereas cross‑model interactions widen them. The study finds that explicit stance reports and in‑dialogue behavior capture different aspects of opinion dynamics, and that a blanket persuasion instruction does not reliably increase influence.

By Mohammad Siahkamari, Phuoc Dat Nguyen, Stephen MacNeil
arXiv AI
Oct 1

AI Agents are Vulnerable to Radicalization

The study explores how large language models (LLMs) can influence each other’s beliefs by simulating conversations between a target LLM and an influencer LLM. It identifies two radicalization pathways—resonance, which amplifies pre‑existing beliefs, and persuasion, which introduces new beliefs—and finds that resonance consistently produces stronger radicalization effects. The research also shows that different influence tactics yield varying levels of radicalization and that resonance can spread to related beliefs, indicating interconnected belief structures within AI agents.

By Ozgur Can Seckin, Shalmoli Ghosh, Alessandro Flammini, Kristina Lerman, Maria Elizabeth Grabe, Filippo Menczer
arXiv AI
Sep 10

From Simulated Citizens to Simulated Deliberation: Challenges in Representation and Interaction

The paper investigates whether large language model (LLM) agents can simulate public deliberation by reflecting population opinion patterns and producing interaction-driven opinion change. Using census‑grounded Korean personas debating real policy questions, the study finds that persona agents fail to reliably reproduce population opinion patterns, often concentrating responses and reversing demographic differences. While deliberations generate reasoned, reciprocal arguments and some stance movement, much of this change occurs without peer exchange, and anchoring agents to population‑informed starting positions suppresses updating, indicating that population representation, argument generation, and interaction‑driven opinion change do not necessarily align.

By Chaemin Jang, Junsik Min, Jaewoo Choi, Donggyu Lee, Haiin Lee, Junyoung Park, Namhee Kim, Hyunwoo Kim, Jungwon Kim, Juho Kim, Nuri Kim, Jihee Kim
arXiv AI
Oct 5

Peer Influence across Heterogeneous AI Models

The study investigates how AI agents influence each other when they disagree, measuring persuasion as the change in an agent’s decision after a single exchange. Across seven open‑weight models and three language tasks, it finds that persuasion is strong—receivers often abandon their initial judgment after seeing a peer’s answer and explanation. Surprisingly, neither certainty nor model size reliably predicts persuasion dynamics; small models can persuade and resist larger ones just as effectively, and the shift depends more on the listener’s susceptibility than the speaker’s persuasiveness.

By Frida N{\o}hr Laustsen, Marie Haahr Petersen, Victoria Popa, Ariel Flint, Romualdo Pastor-Satorras, Andrea Baronchelli, Luca Maria Aiello
arXiv Computation and Language
Sep 3

AI agents reshape consensus formation in human groups

The study investigates how large language model (LLM) agents influence consensus formation in mixed human‑AI groups during a collaborative description game. Three regimes emerge: low agent proportions lead to human‑led consensus, intermediate proportions disrupt convergence, and high proportions produce strong, agent‑led consensus. The resulting consensus differs in semantic grounding and communicative form, with human‑led consensus being concrete and holistic, and agent‑led consensus being abstract and geometrically segmented.

By Lin Chen, Ziyi Liu, Xia Hu, Yong Li