Extending the Hegselmann-Krause Model of Opinion Dynamics to include AI Oracles

TL;DR

This paper extends the Hegselmann-Krause opinion dynamics model by incorporating an AI Oracle, demonstrating how access to the true value and the Oracle influences opinion convergence and the speed of reaching consensus.

Contribution

The paper introduces an AI Oracle into the HK model, analyzing its impact on opinion convergence and the role of access to the true value T in opinion dynamics.

Findings

Opinions converge to a common value when only the Oracle is accessible.

Access to the true value T accelerates convergence to T.

Oracle access conditions influence whether opinions reach the true value.

Abstract

The Hegselmann-Krause (HK) model of opinion dynamics describes how opinions held by individuals in a community change over time in response to the opinions of others and their access to the true value, T, to which these opinions relate. Here, I extend the simple HK model to incorporate an Artificially Intelligent (AI) Oracle that averages the opinions of members of the community. Agent-based simulations show that (1) if individuals only have access to the Oracle (and not T), and incorporate the Oracle's opinion as they update their opinions, then all opinions will converge on a common value; (2) in contrast, if all individuals also have access to T, then all opinions will ultimately converge to T, but the presence of an Oracle may delay the time to convergence; (3) if only some individuals have access to T, opinions may not converge to T, but under certain conditions, universal access to the Oracle will guarantee convergence to T; and (4) whether or not the Oracle only accesses the opinions of individuals who have access to T, or whether it accesses the opinions of everyone in the community, makes no marked difference to the extent to which the average opinion differs from T.