Artificial agency
2018-10-23 — 2025-02-26
Wherein the question of agency is examined via causality-based models, the emergence of self in machines is contemplated, and the possibility that the human is not the agent in collaborations is considered.
adaptive
agents
AI safety
cooperation
economics
evolution
extended self
game theory
incentive mechanisms
learning
mind
networks
utility
wonk
I thought I had specific things to say about AI agency, apart from my interest in the causality-based models and emergence of self of it. But, upon introspection, I am not sure what it was. Maybe it was working out when the human is not the agent.
Was it to ask the question of who is the agent in human-AI collaborations? Unclear.
1 References
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Crutchfield, and Jurgens. 2025. “Agentic Information Theory: Ergodicity and Intrinsic Semantics of Information Processes.”
Hammond, Chan, Clifton, et al. 2025. “Multi-Agent Risks from Advanced AI.”
Johnson, and Verdicchio. 2019. “AI, Agency and Responsibility: The VW Fraud Case and Beyond.” AI & SOCIETY.
Kang, and Lou. 2022. “AI Agency Vs. Human Agency: Understanding Human–AI Interactions on TikTok and Their Implications for User Engagement.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Kenton, Kumar, Farquhar, et al. 2023. “Discovering Agents.” Artificial Intelligence.
Kulveit, Douglas, Ammann, et al. 2025. “Gradual Disempowerment: Systemic Existential Risks from Incremental AI Development.”
Legaspi, He, and Toyoizumi. 2019. “Synthetic Agency: Sense of Agency in Artificial Intelligence.” Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences, Artificial Intelligence,.
Liu, Wang, Li, et al. 2024. “Attaining Human Desirable Outcomes in Human-AI Interaction via Structural Causal Games.”
MacDermott, Fox, Belardinelli, et al. 2024. “Measuring Goal-Directedness.”
Richens, and Everitt. 2024. “Robust Agents Learn Causal World Models.”
van Rijmenam, and Logue. 2021. “Revising the ‘Science of the Organisation’: Theorising AI Agency and Actorhood.” Innovation.
Ward, Francis Rhys, MacDermott, Belardinelli, et al. 2024. “The Reasons That Agents Act: Intention and Instrumental Goals.”
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Zhuang, and Hadfield-Menell. 2021. “Consequences of Misaligned AI.”