Public Goods | Human Nature Lab | Human Nature Lab at Yale

On the optimal integration of intelligent agents into network systems to steer cooperation

10 | Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Bots , Cooperation , Hybrid Systems , Methodology , PNAS , Position Intervention , Public Goods , Social Contagion , Social Network

Citation:

Fu F, Chen X, Christakis NA. On the optimal integration of intelligent agents into network systems to steer cooperation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2026 Mar 24;123(12):e2537939123. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2537939123. Epub 2026 Mar 16. PMID: 41838917.

How malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy

7 | Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Bots , Cooperation , Hybrid Systems , Online Network , Public Goods , Science

Citation:

Schroeder DT, Cha M, Baronchelli A, Bostrom N, Christakis NA, Garcia D, Goldenberg A, Kyrychenko Y, Leyton-Brown K, Lutz N, Marcus G, Menczer F, Pennycook G, Rand DG, Ressa M, Schweitzer F, Song D, Summerfield C, Tang A, Van Bavel JJ, van der Linden S, Kunst JR. How malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy. Science. 2026 Jan 22;391(6783):354-357. doi: 10.1126/science.adz1697. Epub 2026 Jan 22. PMID: 41570131.

Realism Drives Interpersonal Reciprocity but Yields to AI-Assisted Egocentrism in a Coordination Experiment

6 | Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Breadboard Software , Cooperation , Experiment , Methodology , Public Goods

Citation:

Hirokazu Shirado, Kye Shimizu, Nicholas A Christakis, and Shunichi Kasahara. 2025. Realism Drives Interpersonal Reciprocity but Yields to AI-Assisted Egocentrism in a Coordination Experiment. In CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’25), April 26–May 01, 2025, Yokohama, Japan. ACM, New York, NY

Bringing leaders of network subgroups closer together does not facilitate consensus

5 | Breadboard Software , Experiment , Position Intervention , Social Network , Public Goods

Citation:

Matthew I. Jones, Nicholas A. Christakis. Bringing leaders of network subgroups closer together does not facilitate consensus. Scientific Reports, Dec 4;14(1):30183.

Emergence and collapse of reciprocity in semiautomatic driving coordination experiments with humans

8 | Cooperation , Economics , NAC Favorite , PNAS , Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Breadboard Software , Hybrid Systems , Public Goods

Citation:

H Shirado, S Kasahara, NA Christakis. "Emergence and collapse of reciprocity in semiautomatic driving coordination experiments with humans," PNAS, 2023 Dec 19;120(51):e2307804120. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2307804120. Epub 2023 Dec 11.

Network Engineering Using Autonomous Agents Increases Cooperation in Human Groups

11 | Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Connection Intervention , Cooperation , Experiment , Hybrid Systems , Social Network , Sociocentric Network , NAC Favorite , Bots , Breadboard Software , Public Goods

Citation:

H. Shirado and N. A. Christakis, “Network Engineering Using Autonomous Agents Increases Cooperation in Human Groups,” iScience, 23(9) (Aug 2020) DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101438

Mindfulness Meditation Activates Altruism

5 | Cooperation , Mental Health , Experiment , Breadboard Software , Public Goods

Citation:

S.K. Iwamoto, M. Alexander, M. Torres, M.R. Irwin, N. A. Christakis, and A. Nishi, “Mindfulness Meditation Activates Altruism,” Scientific Reports, 10(1): 6511 (Apr 2020) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-62652-1

Assortative mixing and resource inequality enhance collective welfare in sharing networks

10 | Homophily , NAC Favorite , PNAS , Social Network , Inequality , Connection Intervention , Experiment , Economics , Breadboard Software , Public Goods

Citation:

H. Shirado, G. Iosifidis, and N. A. Christakis, “Assortative mixing and resource inequality enhance collective welfare in sharing networks,” PNAS, 116(45): 22442-22444 (Oct 2019) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911606116

Resource sharing in technologically defined social networks

6 | Experiment , Breadboard Software , Social Network , Connection Intervention , Economics , Public Goods

Citation:

H. Shirado, G. Iosifidis, L. Tassiulas, and N. A. Christakis, “Resource sharing in technologically defined social networks,” Nature Communications, (Feb 2019) DOI: 10.1038/s41467·019·0893S-2

Locally Noisy Autonomous Agents Improve Global Human Coordination in Network Experiments (Nature, 2017)

13 | Methodology , Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Biological Network , Behavior Genetics , Social Network , Sociocentric Network , Bots , NAC Favorite , Nature , Breadboard Software , Experiment , Hybrid Systems , Public Goods

Citation:

H. Shirado and N.A. Christakis, "Locally Noisy Autonomous Agents Improve Global Human Coordination in Network Experiments" Nature, 545, 370–374 (18 May 2017) doi:10.1038/nature22332

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