# Epidemic Modeling with Generative Agents arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.04986 ยท HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.04986/ ## Key facts - Cited by 49 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). - Placed in Social simulation and multi-agent debate, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. - Builds on 2 of its 26 references that are in the map. - First posted on arXiv 11 Jul 2023. ## Placed in - LLM agents and tool use / [Social simulation and multi-agent debate](https://mlsanity.com/agents/social-simulation-and-multi-agent-debate/) ## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2) - [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023) - [A Comprehensive Survey of AI-Generated Content (AIGC): A History of Generative AI from GAN to ChatGPT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.04226/) (2023) ## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 49) - [A Survey on Large Language Model based Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.11432/) (2023) - [The Rise and Potential of Large Language Model Based Agents: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.07864/) (2023) - [Large Language Model based Multi-Agents: A Survey of Progress and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01680/) (2024) - [Large Language Models Empowered Agent-based Modeling and Simulation: A Survey and Perspectives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.11970/) (2023) - [AutoAgents: A Framework for Automatic Agent Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.17288/) (2023) - [Language Agents with Reinforcement Learning for Strategic Play in the Werewolf Game](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.18940/) (2023) - [Empowering Biomedical Discovery with AI Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.02831/) (2024) - [Large Language Models as Urban Residents: An LLM Agent Framework for Personal Mobility Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.14744/) (2024) - [From Individual to Society: A Survey on Social Simulation Driven by Large Language Model-based Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.03563/) (2024) - [Do as We Do, Not as You Think: the Conformity of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.13381/) (2025) - [A Survey of Agentic Reasoning for Large Language Models: Towards Recursively Self-Improving and Collective Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.12538/) (2026) - [Generative to Agentic AI: Survey, Conceptualization, and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18875/) (2025) - [ClinicalLab: Aligning Agents for Multi-Departmental Clinical Diagnostics in the Real World](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.13890/) (2024) - [Do Large Language Models Solve the Problems of Agent-Based Modeling? A Critical Review of Generative Social Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.03274/) (2025) - [Learning to Break: Knowledge-Enhanced Reasoning in Multi-Agent Debate System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.04854/) (2023) - [Agent-Based Modelling Meets Generative AI in Social Network Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.16031/) (2024) - [AgentLens: Visual Analysis for Agent Behaviors in LLM-based Autonomous Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.08995/) (2024) - [Simulating Public Administration Crisis: A Novel Generative Agent-Based Simulation System to Lower Technology Barriers in Social Science Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.06957/) (2023) - [Simulating Human Strategic Behavior: Comparing Single and Multi-agent LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.08189/) (2024) - [Generative Agent-Based Modeling: Unveiling Social System Dynamics through Coupling Mechanistic Models with Generative Artificial Intelligence](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.11456/) (2023) - [Toward LLM-Agent-Based Modeling of Transportation Systems: A Conceptual Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.06681/) (2024) - [MineLand: Simulating Large-Scale Multi-Agent Interactions with Limited Multimodal Senses and Physical Needs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.19267/) (2024) - [Can A Society of Generative Agents Simulate Human Behavior and Inform Public Health Policy? A Case Study on Vaccine Hesitancy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09639/) (2025) - [A Survey on Human-Centric LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.14491/) (2024) - [LLM-driven Imitation of Subrational Behavior : Illusion or Reality?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.08755/) (2024) - [Computational Experiments Meet Large Language Model Based Agents: A Survey and Perspective](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.00262/) (2024) - [Can Generative AI agents behave like humans? Evidence from laboratory market experiments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.07457/) (2025) - [Stop Reducing Responsibility in LLM-Powered Multi-Agent Systems to Local Alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.14008/) (2025) - [LLM-ABM for Transportation: Assessing the Potential of LLM Agents in System Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.22718/) (2025) - [StoryBox: Collaborative Multi-Agent Simulation for Hybrid Bottom-Up Long-Form Story Generation Using Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.11618/) (2025) ## Abstract (arXiv) This study offers a new paradigm of individual-level modeling to address the grand challenge of incorporating human behavior in epidemic models. Using generative artificial intelligence in an agent-based epidemic model, each agent is empowered to make its own reasonings and decisions via connecting to a large language model such as ChatGPT. Through various simulation experiments, we present compelling evidence that generative agents mimic real-world behaviors such as quarantining when sick and self-isolation when cases rise. Collectively, the agents demonstrate patterns akin to multiple waves observed in recent pandemics followed by an endemic period. Moreover, the agents successfully flatten the epidemic curve. This study creates potential to improve dynamic system modeling by offering a way to represent human brain, reasoning, and decision making.