How can AI agency mitigate generative AI harms?
AGENCY IN THE AGE OF AI
This paper argues that the concept of "agency" (the ability to choose goals and make plans to achieve them) is the right framework for understanding both the harms and benefits of generative AI. It proposes expanding existing agency theories (like the Belief-Desire-Intention or BDI model) to better incorporate how AI tools both extend and diminish human agency in a multi-agent world, including considering the impact of malicious actors, misinformation, and unintended consequences. This expanded theory could be used within agent-based models (ABMs) containing LLM-powered agents, simulated humans, and autonomous AI agents interacting in realistic scenarios. These simulations would require addressing challenges like scaling, epistemic uncertainty, and explainability, but could help discover and evaluate interventions and potentially design systems that collaboratively augment agency rather than diminishing it.