Generative AI as Economic Agents

TL;DR

This paper proposes modeling generative AI as autonomous economic agents within game-theoretic frameworks, highlighting how AI influences strategic interactions and equilibria.

Contribution

It introduces a novel framework for considering AI as independent economic agents, expanding traditional models that view AI solely as a tool for humans.

Findings

AI agents can alter equilibrium outcomes in strategic games.

Different information and preferences between users and AI lead to new equilibrium behaviors.

Modeling AI as agents provides insights into economic interactions involving advanced AI systems.

Abstract

Traditionally, AI has been modeled within economics as a technology that impacts payoffs by reducing costs or refining information for human agents. Our position is that, in light of recent advances in generative AI, it is increasingly useful to model AI itself as an economic agent. In our framework, each user is augmented with an AI agent and can consult the AI prior to taking actions in a game. The AI agent and the user have potentially different information and preferences over the communication, which can result in equilibria that are qualitatively different than in settings without AI.