These AI agents are building ‘civilizations’ on Minecraft
More than 1,000 autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agents were given free rein to build Minecraft worlds together.
Run by California-based startup Altera, the project had AI agents collaborating to create virtual societies complete with their own governmental institutions, economy, culture, and religion.
Altera said it ran simulations on a Minecraft server entirely populated by autonomous AI agents “every day” and the results were “always different.”
In one simulation, AI agents banded together to set up a market, where they agreed to use gems as a common currency to trade supplies – building an economy.
Curiously, according to the company, it was not the merchants who traded the most but a corrupt priest who started bribing townsfolk to convert to his religion.
In another simulation, an AI agent named Olivia worked as a farmer, providing food for an entire civilization until the tales of the village explorer Nora inspired her to go on her own trip.
However, Olivia gave up on the idea after other villagers pleaded with her to stay and focus on the harvest, prioritizing the common good rather than her “dream.”
“Because our agents are social and grow over time, they’re impacted by group dynamics, but also use their individual power to change the system,” Altera said.
This was tested in yet another simulation where parallel civilizations – one led by former President Donald Trump and the other by Vice President Kamala Harris – were given the same constitution they could vote to amend.
The AI agents opted to vote in both scenarios but chose different paths. The Trump-led society voted to increase the number of police in their world. Under Harris, agents focused on criminal justice reform and removing the death penalty.