“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.