The emergence of Large Language Models (LLMs) and advancements in Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer an opportunity for computational social science research at scale. Building upon prior explorations of LLM agent design, our work introduces a simulated agent society where complex social relationships dynamically form and evolve over time. Agents are imbued with psychological drives and placed in a sandbox survival environment. We conduct an evaluation of the agent society through the lens of Thomas Hobbes's seminal Social Contract Theory (SCT). We analyze whether, as the theory postulates, agents seek to escape a brutish "state of nature" by surrendering rights to an absolute sovereign in exchange for order and security. Our experiments unveil an alignment: Initially, agents engage in unrestrained conflict, mirroring Hobbes's depiction of the state of nature. However, as the simulation progresses, social contracts emerge, leading to the authorization of an absolute sovereign and the establishment of a peaceful commonwealth founded on mutual cooperation. This congruence between our LLM agent society's evolutionary trajectory and Hobbes's theoretical account indicates LLMs' capability to model intricate social dynamics and potentially replicate forces that shape human societies. By enabling such insights into group behavior and emergent societal phenomena, LLM-driven multi-agent simulations, while unable to simulate all the nuances of human behavior, may hold potential for advancing our understanding of social structures, group dynamics, and complex human systems.

翻译：大型语言模型（LLM）的出现与人工智能（AI）的进步为大规模计算社会科学研究提供了契机。基于先前对LLM智能体设计的探索，本研究构建了一个模拟智能体社会，其中复杂的社会关系随时间动态形成并演化。智能体被赋予心理驱动力，并置于沙盒生存环境中。我们通过托马斯·霍布斯开创性的社会契约理论（SCT）视角对该智能体社会进行评估，分析智能体是否会如理论所假设的那样，为摆脱野蛮的“自然状态”而将权利让渡给绝对主权者，以换取秩序与安全。实验结果显示出一致性：初始阶段，智能体陷入无限制冲突，映射了霍布斯描述的自然状态；但随着模拟进程推进，社会契约逐渐形成，最终催生出绝对主权者的授权以及基于相互合作的和平共同体。LLM智能体社会的演化轨迹与霍布斯的理论阐述之间的契合表明，LLM具备模拟复杂社会动态并可能复现人类社会塑造力量的能力。通过揭示群体行为与涌现性社会现象，LLM驱动的多智能体模拟虽无法复现人类行为的全部细微差别，但有望推动我们对社会结构、群体动态及复杂人类系统的理解。