Can AI Agents Agree?
On the map: LLM agents and tool use → Social simulation and multi-agent debate
Abstract (arXiv)
Large language models are increasingly deployed as cooperating agents, yet their behavior in adversarial consensus settings has not been systematically studied. We evaluate LLM-based agents on a Byzantine consensus game over scalar values using a synchronous all-to-all simulation. We test consensus in a no-stake setting where agents have no preferences over the final value, so evaluation focuses on agreement rather than value optimality. Across hundreds of simulations spanning model sizes, group sizes, and Byzantine fractions, we find that valid agreement is not reliable even in benign settings and degrades as group size grows. Introducing a small number of Byzantine agents further reduces success. Failures are dominated by loss of liveness, such as timeouts and stalled convergence, rather than subtle value corruption. Overall, the results suggest that reliable agreement is not yet a dependable emergent capability of current LLM-agent groups even in no-stake settings, raising caution for deployments that rely on robust coordination.
Key facts. Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 7 Oct 2026). Placed in Social simulation and multi-agent debate, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use. Builds on 9 of its 13 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 1 Mar 2026.
Builds on
9 of 13 references.
References · 9
- 2023Efficient Memory Management for Large Language Model Serving with PagedAttentioncited by 5,767
- 2023AutoGen: Enabling Next-Gen LLM Applications via Multi-Agent Conversationcited by 1,906
- 2023CAMEL: Communicative Agents for "Mind" Exploration of Large Language Model Societycited by 1,348
- 2023AgentBench: Evaluating LLMs as Agentscited by 1,211
- 2025Why Do Multi-Agent LLM Systems Fail?cited by 559
- 2023Multi-Agent Consensus Seeking via Large Language Modelscited by 50
- 2025Rethinking the Reliability of Multi-agent System: A Perspective from Byzantine Fault Tolerancecited by 16
- 2025Byzantine-Robust Decentralized Coordination of LLM Agentscited by 13
- 2025This Is Your Doge, If It Please You: Exploring Deception and Robustness in Mixture of LLMscited by 4
Built on by
Citing papers per year: 2026: 7.
7 papers.
- 2026AutoScientists: Self-Organizing Agent Teams for Long-Running Scientific Experimentationcited by 7
- 2026Don't Trust Stubborn Neighbors: A Security Framework for Agentic Networkscited by 3
- 2026Improving the Efficiency of Language Agent Teams with Adaptive Task Graphscited by 2
- 2026Interactive Critique-Revision Training for Reliable Structured LLM Generationcited by 2
- 2026Agent Behavioral Contracts II: Certifying Compositional Reliability Without Assuming Independencecited by 1
- 2026Resilient Consensus in Agentic AIcited by 0
- 2026Agentic Societies Need a Social Harnesscited by 0
- 2026Agentic Societies Need a Social Harness15 Sep 2026
- 2026Agent Behavioral Contracts II: Certifying Compositional Reliability Without Assuming Independence13 Aug 2026
- 2026Resilient Consensus in Agentic AI12 Jun 2026
- 2026AutoScientists: Self-Organizing Agent Teams for Long-Running Scientific Experimentation27 May 2026
- 2026Interactive Critique-Revision Training for Reliable Structured LLM Generation8 May 2026
- 2026Improving the Efficiency of Language Agent Teams with Adaptive Task Graphs7 May 2026
- 2026Don't Trust Stubborn Neighbors: A Security Framework for Agentic Networks16 Mar 2026
Similar, not cited
Close in wording, no citation either way
- 2025Consensus Is All You Need: Gossip-Based Reasoning Among Large Language Models
- 2026Byzantine Cheap Talk: Adversarial Resilience and Topology Effects in LLM Coordination Games
- 2024Cooperate or Collapse: Emergence of Sustainable Cooperation in a Society of LLM Agents
- 2026Coalition Formation in LLM Agent Networks: Stability Analysis and Convergence Guarantees
- 2026Robust Multi-Agent LLMs under Byzantine Faults
- 2026More Capable, Less Cooperative? When LLMs Fail At Zero-Cost Collaboration
- 2026SMAC-Talk: A Natural Language Extension of the StarCraft Multi-Agent Challenge for Large Language Models
- 2026Emergent Collaborative Deliberation in Multi-Model AI Systems: A BFT-Derived Protocol for Epistemic Synthesis