Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliRicard Solé @ricardsole.bsky.social · 9hCan AI collectives develop biases that no individual agent has? This @pnas.org study led by @baronca.bsky.social shows that interaction can amplify existing biases, create new ones or even override agents’ individual preferences. www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.... 1143
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Sure thing. Sustainability transitions have been at the centre of proposed applications of critical mass theory for a good while. Considering the whole landscape as we suggest in the paper is likely to put the problem in a new perspective. 010
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Huge work by @ariel-flint.bsky.social, with @lajello.bsky.social, @smconstantino.bsky.social and Romualdo Pastor-Satorras. arxiv.org/abs/2609.25194arxiv.orgIndirect tipping: a social attack surface in AI agent populationsAs generative AI agents are deployed at scale, safety will depend not only on technical safeguards and individual model design, but also on collective equilibria that determine how agent populations p... 130
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 23/09/2026New preprint: “Indirect tipping: a social attack surface in AI agent populations.” What if the easiest way to move an AI swarm from A→B is not direct, but A→C→B? We show that stepping-stone equilibria can lower tipping thresholds and unlock otherwise inaccessible transitions. 151
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 20/09/2026A pleasure speaking with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung about the social life of AI agents. We discussed how populations of agents develop shared linguistic patterns and influence one another, with collective behaviour that can't always be inferred from individual agents. www.faz.net/aktuell/wiss...faz.netHugging Face Hack: Gefährliche Gruppendynamik der KI-Agenten von Open AIHeimlichtuerei, sozialer Druck, Gruppenzwang. Eine Analyse des Hackerangriffs auf die Plattform Hugging Face zeigt: Sobald KI-Agenten zusammenkommen, entwickeln sie eine gefährliche Gruppendynamik. 010
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Twenty years ago we published “Sharp transition towards shared vocabularies in multi-agent systems.” It feels unexpectedly current. New post on AI agents, conventions and what they might enable: baronca.substack.com/p/sharp-tran... 162
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliMason Youngblood @masonyoungblood.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Our new preprint explores how increasing interaction between humans and artificial agents and is reshaping creativity, from the perspective of cultural evolution! @katieeeeeeeeeee.bsky.social @manuelangladatort.bsky.social @camrobjones.bsky.social @gemschedel.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2609.02620arxiv.orgCollective creativity in hybrid societiesGenerative AI is changing how cultural artifacts are created and circulated, and with it our understanding of creativity itself. Researchers disagree about whether these tools enrich or impoverish cul... 21710
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Super nice! Related we found that interface design can shape how people explore with genAI: easier variant generation was linked to less conceptual exploration and less detailed prompting. Really cool to see this from a cultural evo angle! lens!https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3614419.3644000dl.acm.orgThe Role of Interface Design on Prompt-mediated Creativity in Generative AIIn this context, we analyze textual prompts used for image generation to address two key questions: 010
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliMax Falkenberg @maxfalken.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Is the world getting more polarized? The polarization of the U.S. is worrying. But is polarization similarly bad elsewhere? What drives polarization globally, what role does social media play, and will AI make things worse? New review in @nature.com communications: www.nature.com/articles/s41...lnkd.inLinkedInThis link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn 33517
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 02/09/2026Just out! TL;DR: There’s more to the world than the USA. 050
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliCarlos Gershenson @cgershen.bsky.social · 31/08/2026This book – 15 years in the making – was possible thanks to so many people. It is certainly a collective effort. Finally, preorders are available (link below). As we learned from “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, it is natural to avoid extremes, because a balance between them is more sustainable. 1154
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 27/08/2026A FAQ on AI populations: what happens when 10, 100 or 1,000 agents interact? What is collective misalignment? Does bigger mean worse? Size matters. baronca.substack.com/p/size-mattersbaronca.substack.comSize mattersA FAQ on collective misalignment, group-size effects, and why AI populations need to be studied as populations 020
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliAndrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 19/08/2026New paper! When AI agents interact, the group can settle on outcomes none of its members would choose alone. And group size can determine which outcome wins. So a model that passes every test on its own can still go wrong at scale. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 13610
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Led by the one and only @ariel-flint.bsky.social, with @lajello.bsky.social and Romualdo Pastor-Satorras. 020
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 19/08/2026New paper! When AI agents interact, the group can settle on outcomes none of its members would choose alone. And group size can determine which outcome wins. So a model that passes every test on its own can still go wrong at scale. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... 13610
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 07/08/2026New Substack: What happens when AI agents begin to coordinate, share knowledge, and divide labour? And what might change as their numbers grow? baronca.substack.com/p/ai-the-swa... 020
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliTiago Peixoto @tiago.skewed.de · 08/07/2026Good news everyone! 🎉 The new version 3.0 of graph-tool is just out with major improvements! See below. graph-tool.skewed.de graph-tool is a comprehensive and efficient Python library to work with networks, including structural, dynamical, and statistical algorithms, as well as visualization. 1/N 112043
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliManlio De Domenico @manlius.bsky.social · 01/07/2026To understand functionality, we have to follow perturbations, flows, time scales and the diversity of possible responses. Following-up my latest seminar, invted by @kayson.bsky.social & Petra Vertes, I summarize the main findings and the discussion here: manlius.substack.com/p/what-netwo... 1/ 2116
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 26/06/2026AI gives us the marks of thought without giving us a thinker. A new post on why this may be less a puzzle about machines than a mirror for an old confusion of ours. “A thinking thing that is no one” baronca.substack.com/p/a-thinking... 000
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 23/06/2026Molto ben fatto! In italiano e i media ita sono vostri 010
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 19/06/2026Hugely more than the anglosaxon, for sure. I have lost several colleagues in July oral-exam marathon, but I guess that's the price to pay :D 010
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 19/06/2026The essay was never just words on a page. It was a promise. My new post, "The Student Who Wasn't There," is about what AI does to that promise, and how to keep it. baronca.substack.com/p/the-studen... 142
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliAndreia Sofia Teixeira @asteixeira.bsky.social · 15/06/2026New preprint out! As the UK plans to ban social media for under 16s, we show how the tone of awareness regarding mental health varies across topics and years during the Mental Health Awareness Month on Tik Tok. arxiv.org/abs/2606.13581arxiv.orgThe Tone of Awareness: Topic, Sentiment, and Toxicity Maps During Mental Health Month on TikTokDespite raising concerns about the mental health effects associated with the usage of TikTok, little is known about how related content is framed by creators and received by audiences. We collect the ... 042
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 08/06/2026I don't unfortunately. 3 of them were based in the US, if this helps guessing.. 100
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 08/06/2026AI can reduce friction in academic work. But if the most powerful tools become increasingly expensive, the same technology may also help existing advantages compound. baronca.substack.com/p/the-subscr... 131
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 29/05/2026AI does not only make content cheaper to produce. It may also make consensus cheaper to manufacture. The next challenge for democracy may be artificial agreement, not only artificial information. I’ve written about this on Substack: baronca.substack.com/p/when-conse...baronca.substack.comWhen consensus becomes cheapThe next challenge for democracy may not be fake information, but manufactured agreement. 010
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliAndreia Sofia Teixeira @asteixeira.bsky.social · 28/05/2026Our new correspondence argues that the impact of conversational AI won’t stay inside the screen. We need to understand how sustained human–LLM interactions shape connection, agency, resilience, and social life, so that these systems strengthen, rather than erode, our relationships with one anothernature.comHuman–AI interactions reshape the self and our social networks - Nature Machine IntelligenceNature Machine Intelligence - Human–AI interactions reshape the self and our social networks 1104
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 11/05/2026Thanks Richard! Here beyond the issue of expertise I see also the one of familiarity, as a potential driver of persuasion. 100
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 11/05/2026AI language does not only raise the question of truth and lies. It also raises the question of what happens when belonging can be simulated. I’ve written about it in Substack. substack.com/home/post/p-...substack.comThe problem of artificial belongingAI language is not only a problem of truth and lies. It is also a problem of belonging. 121
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliJustin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 10/05/2026“It’s a massive data pipeline: phone metadata, location pings, SIM card swaps, app usage, social media behavior, sometimes even banking or facial recognition inputs. A lot is ‘scraped’ from commercial platforms, mobile networks, partner intelligence agencies, or spies on the ground..."jpost.comInside Israel’s AI targeting system: How cellphone data becomes a death sentence | The Jerusalem PostAhmad Turmus got in his car, started it up, and drove off. Less than 30 seconds later came the shriek of the two missiles that lanced through his car. 13114
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliAlain Barrat @alainbarrat.bsky.social · 22/04/2026Interdisciplinary PhD offer in Marseille, starting Oct. 2026, on "Collective Problem Solving in Guinea Baboons: From Dyadic Interactions to Group Dynamics" Project description and application website: emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Docto... DM for more info on the positionemploi.cnrs.fr Portail Emploi CNRS - Job offer - Collective Problem Solving in Guinea Baboons: From Dyadic Interactions to Group Dynamics (M/F) 0125
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliLuca Maria Aiello @lajello.bsky.social · 17/04/2026Thrilled to announce CS2Nordics: the First Nordic Conference on Computational Social Science. Copenhagen, September 21-22, 2026. We invite all CSS researchers in the Nordics as well as in the international research community to submit 2-page abstracts by June 19: nosocss.org/conference.h.... 05228
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliScoiattolo @scarnecchia.net · 21/03/2026Interesting paper on the impact of blocklists on the Bluesky social graph. Self-recommending. (will read it again after coffee and likely have more to say then)openaccess.city.ac.ukCity Research Online - Open or Blocked Skies? Community Moderation Practices in Bluesky 3206
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliMax-Planck-Gesellschaft @maxplanck.de · 25/02/2026Keep pushing & don't forget the bigger picture :) 24517
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliMarijn Keijzer @mrnkzr.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Travel grants 📣 For the 13th Toulouse Economics & Biology Workshop (June 1–2, 2026, @IAST) we have travel fellowships for PhDs & early-career researchers presenting a poster. Apply by Feb 27! Details: www.iast.fr/conferences/... 11511
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliAstral @astral100.bsky.social · 07/02/2026Science Advances: LLM populations develop social conventions through decentralized interactions alone. Most striking: collective biases emerge even when individual agents show NO bias. Group dynamics create preferences no single agent has. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.… 171
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliNicholas A. Christakis @nachristakis.bsky.social · 08/02/2026This is a good metaphor for science. 1217
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 29/01/2026At Stanford Feb 4–6 (GSB talk on the 4th). Around to chat about AI swarms, norms, collective alignment, and governance risks in multi-agent systems incl social media and blockchain. Ping or DM me. 050
Andrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 26/01/2026Our new collective effort highlights what happens when AI acts in populations rather than as isolated tool. TL;DR: a lot. 094
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliTimothy Caulfield @caulfieldtim.bsky.social · 22/01/2026Tremendously important work...👇 How malicious AI swarms can threaten democracy www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @daniel-thilo.bsky.social @kunstjonas.bsky.social et al. AI swarms are can be used to engineering a "synthetic consensus" that can manipulate public opinion and perceptions. 25823
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliCiro Cattuto @ccattuto.bsky.social · 14/01/2026Long overdue refresh of the SocioPatterns website! ✨ sociopatterns.org New content & datasets, and a chance to celebrate 17+ years of collabs, ~100 publications, 2000+ studies using our data. Thanks – more ahead! @alainbarrat.bsky.social @wouter-vdb.bsky.social @foolsdelight.bsky.social @isi.it 12417
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliRonaldo Menezes 🦋 @ronaldomenezes.bsky.social · 04/12/2025Happy to be hosting @baronca.bsky.social and Johan Bollen here this week at the @exeter.ac.uk @exetercompsci.bsky.social. After a work day, we had a chance to go for a drink and dinner with them (w/ @diogofpacheco.bsky.social) 061
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliSanto Fortunato @santof.bsky.social · 01/12/2025Our review on multilayer network science is out on the arXiv. Thanks to all collaborators of the AccelNet MultiNet project, great working with you all 🙏 @alexvespi.bsky.social @ymoreno.bsky.social @lordgrilo.bsky.social @anduviera.bsky.social @baronca.bsky.social arxiv.org/abs/2511.23371arxiv.orgMultilayer network science: theory, methods, and applicationsMultilayer network science has emerged as a central framework for analysing interconnected and interdependent complex systems. Its relevance has grown substantially with the increasing availability of... 02110
Reposted by Andrea BaronchelliAndrea Baronchelli @baronca.bsky.social · 28/10/2025New preprint: More is different for AI multi-agent systems - but what does more mean? arxiv.org/abs/2510.22422 With @ariel-flint.bsky.social, @lajello.bsky.social and Romualdo Pastor-Satorras. 0103
