Computational Multi-Agents Society Experiments: Social Modeling Framework Based on Generative Agents

arXiv:2508.17366 · cs.AI, cs.CY, cs.MA · Submitted 2025-08-24 · Read on arXiv

cs.AI, cs.CY, cs.MA

Submitted: 2025-08-24

Updated: 2026-10-15

Comments: Accepted for publication in ACM Transactions on Social Computing (TSC). 36 pages, 6 figures

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

The gist: Computational social science has developed descriptive, interpretative, and predictive modeling, but comprehensive modeling combining in-world human intervention with outcome forecasting remains

Terminology

Abstract

Computational social science has developed descriptive, interpretative, and predictive modeling, but comprehensive modeling combining in-world human intervention with outcome forecasting remains underexplored. Generative agent-based platforms scale populations or reproduce complex scenarios, but researchers typically act through setup, external controls, or post-hoc analysis rather than in-world roles. We introduce Computational Multi-Agent Society Experiments (CMASE), a generative agent-based framework for in-world researcher participation and traceable interventions at runtime. Treating simulation as a simulated ethnographic field, CMASE supports (1) real-time human-computer interaction to study intervention processes; (2) controlled experiments with ethnography-inspired observation, interviewing, and interpretation; and (3) forward exploration of intervention trajectories and downstream responses. CMASE combines LLM-driven perception, memory, and emotion; a composable environment built from texture and area maps; and researcher roles spanning observation, interviewing, participation, and intervention, so that interventions enter as social events rather than exogenous parameters. We replicate two published field studies from different disciplines: urban greenery and social fragmentation, and cooperation in a public goods game, using two substantially different language models. CMASE reproduces reported statistical patterns and provides process-level records for mechanism-oriented interpretation. A controlled comparison shows that embedded social interventions leave observable, auditable processes that parametric manipulation does not. These findings highlight CMASE's methodological value for studying interventions in small- and medium-scale social settings and its interdisciplinary potential. The official code is available at: https://github.com/armihia/CMASE.

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