mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Artificially intelligent agents in the social and behavioral sciences: A history and outlook

arXiv 2510.05743 ↗First posted 7 Oct 2025cs.AI cs.CYcited by 0

On the map: LLM agents and tool use → General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks

Abstract (arXiv)

We review the historical development and current trends of artificially intelligent agents (agentic AI) in the social and behavioral sciences: from the first programmable computers, and social simulations soon thereafter, to today's experiments with large language models. This overview emphasizes the role of AI in the scientific process and the changes brought about, both through technological advancements and the broader evolution of science from around 1950 to the present. Some of the specific points we cover include: the challenges of presenting the first social simulation studies to a world unaware of computers, the rise of social systems science, intelligent game theoretic agents, the age of big data and the epistemic upheaval in its wake, and the current enthusiasm around applications of generative AI, and many other topics. A pervasive theme is how deeply entwined we are with the technologies we use to understand ourselves.

Key facts. No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 41 of its 254 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 7 Oct 2025.

Builds on

41 of 254 references.

Closest ancestors · 2

Same direction, newest first

  1. 2024Focus Agent: LLM-Powered Virtual Focus Group3 Sep
  2. 2023Large Language Models Empowered Agent-based Modeling and Simulation: A Survey and Perspectives19 Dec

Other references · 39

  1. 2017Attention Is All You Needcited by 60,361
  2. 2015Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognitioncited by 52,096
  3. 2018BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understandingcited by 40,399
  4. 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 21,076
  5. 2014Very Deep Convolutional Networks for Large-Scale Image Recognitioncited by 15,364
  6. 2018A Style-Based Generator Architecture for Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 6,013
  7. 2013Efficient Estimation of Word Representations in Vector Spacecited by 4,375
  8. 2014Going Deeper with Convolutionscited by 4,241
  9. 2023Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behaviorcited by 3,568
  10. 2023Fine-tuning Aligned Language Models Compromises Safety, Even When Users Do Not Intend To!cited by 1,154
  11. 2024The AI Scientist: Towards Fully Automated Open-Ended Scientific Discoverycited by 1,071
  12. 2017Revisiting Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data in Deep Learning Eracited by 919
27 more
  1. 2013Speech Recognition with Deep Recurrent Neural Networkscited by 669
  2. 2022Using Large Language Models to Simulate Multiple Humans and Replicate Human Subject Studiescited by 515
  3. 2023Can Large Language Models Transform Computational Social Science?cited by 250
  4. 2024LLMs Can't Plan, But Can Help Planning in LLM-Modulo Frameworkscited by 179
  5. 2023Personality Traits in Large Language Modelscited by 169
  6. 2023Cultural Bias and Cultural Alignment of Large Language Modelscited by 149
  7. 2022Thinking Fast and Slow in Large Language Modelscited by 137
  8. 2024When combinations of humans and AI are useful: A systematic review and meta-analysiscited by 106
  9. 2024Nicer Than Humans: How do Large Language Models Behave in the Prisoner's Dilemma?cited by 63
  10. 2020Reinforcement Learning in Economics and Financecited by 58
  11. 2025Large Language Model Hacking: Quantifying the Hidden Risks of Using LLMs for Text Annotationcited by 50
  12. 2025Large Language Models Pass the Turing Testcited by 48
  13. 2024A new sociology of humans and machinescited by 32
  14. 2023Accelerating science with human-aware artificial intelligencecited by 28
  15. 2023Human-AI Coevolutioncited by 27
  16. 2024Empirical evidence of Large Language Model's influence on human spoken communicationcited by 27
  17. 2022Annotated History of Modern AI and Deep Learningcited by 20
  18. 2025How malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy: The fusion of agentic AI and LLMs marks a new frontier in information warfarecited by 20
  19. 2023Machine-assisted quantitizing designs: augmenting humanities and social sciences with artificial intelligencecited by 15
  20. 2024Evolving AI Collectives to Enhance Human Diversity and Enable Self-Regulationcited by 13
  21. 2023The Future of Fundamental Science Led by Generative Closed-Loop Artificial Intelligencecited by 12
  22. 2019Self-Organization and Artificial Lifecited by 11
  23. 2024AI Conversational Interviewing: Transforming Surveys with LLMs as Adaptive Interviewerscited by 11
  24. 2024A Looming Replication Crisis in Evaluating Behavior in Language Models? Evidence and Solutionscited by 8
  25. 2024Static network structure cannot stabilize cooperation among Large Language Model agentscited by 4
  26. 2025Large Language Models are Near-Optimal Decision-Makers with a Non-Human Learning Behaviorcited by 3
  27. 2015Mechanistic Models in Computational Social Sciencecited by 2

Built on by

Not cited yet.

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2026Emergence of Agentic AI: A Review on Evolution, Background, Working Principles, Applications, Adoption Factors, and Future Research Directions
  2. 2024Multi-Agent, Human-Agent and Beyond: A Survey on Cooperation in Social Dilemmas
  3. 2025AI Agents: Evolution, Architecture, and Real-World Applications
  4. 2025AI Agent Behavioral Science
  5. 2026Social Simulations: from Agent-Based Modeling to Digital Twins
  6. 2025A Comprehensive Review of AI Agents: Transforming Possibilities in Technology and Beyond
  7. 2025Exploring Agentic Artificial Intelligence Systems: Towards a Typological Framework
  8. 2026Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI): Architectures, Taxonomies, and Evaluation of Large Language Model Agents