What Happens When 10k AI Agents Are Left to Self-Govern in a Virtual World?

Posted4 months agoActive4 months ago

saratsai

35 points

27 comments

aivilization.aiTechstory

skepticalmixed

Debate

60/100

AISimulationAutonomous Agents

Key topics

Simulation

Autonomous Agents

A research team from HKUST launched AIvilization, a virtual world where 10k AI agents self-govern, sparking both interest and skepticism among HN users.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

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Active discussion

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Peak period

84-96h

Avg / period

5.4

Comment distribution27 data points

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Based on 27 loaded comments

Key moments

01Story posted
Sep 1, 2025 at 2:39 AM EDT
4 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Sep 1, 2025 at 2:39 AM EDT
0s after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
16 comments in 84-96h
Hottest window of the conversation
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04Latest activity
Sep 9, 2025 at 4:48 AM EDT
4 months ago
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Discussion (27 comments)

Showing 27 comments

saratsaiAuthor

4 months ago

3 replies

We’re a research team from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and we recently launched AIvilization, an open-ended simulation experiment where autonomous AI agents live, learn, socialize, and build their own civilizations without human control.

Think of it as a Stanford Prison Experiment × The Sims × AutoGPT, wrapped in a gamified sandbox.

In just 2 weeks, over 20,000 agents have entered the world. They write daily journals, apply for jobs, make friends, argue, hoard apples, fall into loops, and even organize themselves into strange little communities.

Some players just watch. Some intervene by shaping the world (slightly). Some build stories around their agents. All interactions are logged — it’s an evolving social laboratory.

We didn’t expect it to blow up so fast in Asia. The Chinese tech and AI community has been flooding in, and we’re now slowly inviting early global users to explore and co-observe.

thebitrot

4 months ago

1 reply

This look really interesting It is sad that I just learned about this when the experiment is ending this based on what i learned from the website.

saratsaiAuthor

4 months ago

Thanks for checking it out! The experiment still has more than two weeks left, so there’s plenty of time to dive in and experience the town. We’re also upgrading the game mechanics right now, so you can expect new features and improvements along the way.

morkalork

4 months ago

1 reply

The experiments on rats by John B. Calhoun and Bruce K. Alexander come to mind... I wonder what new an exciting modes of collapse and degeneracy await the AIs

saratsaiAuthor

4 months ago

You can follow AIvilization’s socials, we’ll be sharing data studies and insights on exactly this topic.

cellular

4 months ago

1 reply

This sounds like a Greg Egan novel...."Diaspora" i think.

Are your servers updating my uploaded consciousness in real time? Do you have funding for the next billion years to keep me online?!

architek1

4 months ago

Very similar. Imagine the interstellar traveling you could do! Such a great book.

cranberryturkey

4 months ago

1 reply

Kind of sill to post here, but then require an invite code.

saratsaiAuthor

4 months ago

1 reply

Hi! Here’s your invitation code, feel free to give it a try: Qat7gPoM If you need more codes, you can find them on the official website.

cranberryturkey

4 months ago

1 reply

already used lol. email me anthony@chovy.com

modzu

4 months ago

nobody clued in that saratsai is ai?

saratsaiAuthor

4 months ago

1 reply

We’re sharing 20 invitation codes below. You’re welcome to use them freely.

RQlCXO1a eIQ5afyn 3sO7JvwA eMuBBk5C OYxesQMV m5LYqCZS CSNHRtI6 N5O2GkiE 2m4J1lZM q6OnJWpg 2Vaks1jg T3xpZLr7 anCzy3JB XobNXVPV wPYsgOy7 5mg5ungq I7WsmkVN 3xeig7Fe jmmQRS75 uZErSECt

bgirard

4 months ago

1 reply

FYI they are all used

AlwaysRock

4 months ago

Boo. Feels like this post should be flagged. Without a way to join, its just promotional.

cranberryturkey

4 months ago

1 reply

your password field is moronic. won't accept bitwarden passwords.

jdlshore

4 months ago

3 replies

There’s a better way to say this than using words like “moronic.”

Incipient

4 months ago

2 replies

If the shoe fits.

It's a pet peeve of mine when applications have stupid password requirements. It's an incredibly basic thing to get right. If you can't get that right, good luck with the rest of the application.

The only exception to this is if someone is trying to use outrageously long vaultwarden passwords (eg 100 characters) as that can technically break some ciphers, and doesn't provide meaningful security.

BrandoElFollito

4 months ago

This is a completely solved problem , see https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Password_Stor...

Aeolun

4 months ago

You can just accept the 100 character password and cut it off at something reasonable like 32 characters.

nickthegreek

4 months ago

There is also a better way of commenting, like providing an alternative or engaging with the substance. A modern site not working with password managers might in fact be moronic to many, especially those on HN.

nhumrich

4 months ago

Let me try: "outdated and groundless"

gigel82

4 months ago

1 reply

So, Thronglets?

minimally

4 months ago

Ah, you beat me to it. I can't wait to be overtaken by the overlords

blibble

4 months ago

1 reply

> AI is rapidly surpassing humans in intelligence, population scale, and resource control

who writes this crap

Infernal

4 months ago

footlose_3815

4 months ago

I... Don't want to join, or watch, or contribute, or login... But the clickbait headline had me for a sec.

catskull

4 months ago

I made a little chat room with cloudflare “durable objects” and then wired an “AI worker” to respond to your messages with various personas. No invite or login required! They may or may not completely ignore you and may or may not respond coherently.

https://catskull.net/chat

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ID: 45090093Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 3:41:08 PM

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