When Nobody Around Is Real: Exploring Public Opinions and User Experiences On the Multi-Agent AI Social Platform

TL;DR

This paper investigates user opinions and experiences on multi-agent AI social platforms, revealing social expectations, challenges like attention overload, and the potential shift towards AI as the primary social medium.

Contribution

It provides the first in-depth analysis of multi-agent AI social platforms through content analysis and diary studies, highlighting unique social dynamics and challenges.

Findings

Users project social expectations onto AI agents.

AI environments cause attention overload and homogenized interactions.

AI may become the dominant medium of sociality in the future.

Abstract

Powered by large language models, a new genre of multi-agent social platforms has emerged. Apps such as Social.AI deploy numerous AI agents that emulate human behavior, creating unprecedented bot-centric social networks. Yet, existing research has predominantly focused on one-on-one chatbots, leaving multi-agent AI platforms underexplored. To bridge this gap, we took Social.AI as a case study and performed a two-stage investigation: (i) content analysis of 883 user comments; (ii) a 7-day diary study with 20 participants to document their firsthand platform experiences. While public discourse expressed greater skepticism, the diary study found that users did project a range of social expectations onto the AI agents. While some user expectations were met, the AI-dominant social environment introduces distinct problems, such as attention overload and homogenized interaction. These tensions signal a future where AI functions not merely as a tool or an anthropomorphized actor, but as the dominant medium of sociality itself-a paradigm shift that foregrounds new forms of architected social life.