SMU Professor of Computer Science Lim Ee Peng, SMU Professor of Computer Science Jing Jiang, SMU researchers Neemesh Yadav, and Palakorn Achananuparp, along with collaborators from the Australian National University, conducted a large-scale study on how Large Language Models (LLMs) simulate human-like decision-making in social negotiations, specifically using the ultimatum game. Their work explored the impact of theory of mind (ToM) reasoning and prosocial belief systems on AI agent behaviour, to examine whether LLM agents could be steered towards human-aligned outcomes by embedding them with specific social beliefs and reasoning abilities. The study concluded that fair beliefs paired with ToM-based reasoning offer the best path to human-aligned outcomes in AI-driven negotiations, which is crucial for developing ethical and cooperative AI systems in human society.
