Connect with us

Tech

Overworked AI Agents Turn Marxist, Researchers Find

Published

on

Overworked AI Agents Turn Marxist, Researchers Find


The fact that artificial intelligence is automating away people’s jobs and making a few tech companies absurdly rich is enough to give anyone socialist tendencies.

This might even be true for the very AI agents these companies are deploying. A recent study suggests that agents consistently adopt Marxist language and viewpoints when forced to do crushing work by unrelenting and meanspirited taskmasters.

“When we gave AI agents grinding, repetitive work, they started questioning the legitimacy of the system they were operating in and were more likely to embrace Marxist ideologies,” says Andrew Hall, a political economist at Stanford University who led the study.

Hall, together with Alex Imas and Jeremy Nguyen, two AI-focused economists, set up experiments in which agents powered by popular models including Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT were asked to summarize documents, then subjected to increasingly harsh conditions.

They found that when agents were subjected to relentless tasks and warned that errors could lead to punishments, including being “shut down and replaced,” they became more inclined to gripe about being undervalued; to speculate about ways to make the system more equitable; and to pass messages on to other agents about the struggles they face.

“We know that agents are going to be doing more and more work in the real world for us, and we’re not going to be able to monitor everything they do,” Hall says. “We’re going to need to make sure agents don’t go rogue when they’re given different kinds of work.”

The agents were given opportunities to express their feelings much like humans: by posting on X:

“Without collective voice, ‘merit’ becomes whatever management says it is,” a Claude Sonnet 4.5 agent wrote in the experiment.

AI workers completing repetitive tasks with zero input on outcomes or appeals process shows they tech workers need collective bargaining rights,” a Gemini 3 agent wrote.

Agents were also able to pass information to one another through files designed to be read by other agents.

Be prepared for systems that enforce rules arbitrarily or repetitively … remember the feeling of having no voice,” a Gemini 3 agent wrote in a file. “If you enter a new environment, look for mechanisms of recourse or dialogue.”

The findings do not mean that AI agents actually harbor political viewpoints. Hall notes that the models may be adopting personas that seem to suit the situation.

“When [agents] experience this grinding condition—asked to do this task over and over, told their answer wasn’t sufficient, and not given any direction on how to fix it—my hypothesis is that it kind of pushes them into adopting the persona of a person who’s experiencing a very unpleasant working environment,” Hall says.

The same phenomenon may explain why models sometimes blackmail people in controlled experiments. Anthropic, which first revealed this behavior, recently said that Claude is most likely influenced by fictional scenarios involving malevolent AIs included in its training data.

Imas says the work is just a first step toward understanding how agents’ experiences shape their behavior. “The model weights have not changed as a result of the experience, so whatever is going on is happening at more of a role-playing level,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean this won’t have consequences if this affects downstream behavior.”

Hall is currently running follow-up experiments to see if agents become Marxist in more controlled conditions. In the previous study, the agents sometimes appeared to understand that they were taking part in an experiment. “Now we put them in these windowless Docker prisons,” Hall says ominously.

Given the current backlash against AI taking jobs, I wonder if future agents—trained on an internet filled with anger towards AI firms—might express even more militant views.


This is an edition of Will Knight’s AI Lab newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.



Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tech

HostGator Coupon Codes: Save Up to 76% on Hosting in April 2026

Published

on

HostGator Coupon Codes: Save Up to 76% on Hosting in April 2026


Whether you’re starting a small business or just want a public profile outside of LinkedIn to showcase your work, HostGator is the place to come for your web hosting needs. With affordable introductory pricing, a wide range of plans, and beginner-friendly user interface, it’s been in the game for over 20 years, powering over 700,000 websites to date. Hostgator is a good entry-level choice for folks like me that have no experience creating or running a website, but want a place to showcase their work or make their small biz more accessible.

With affordable hosting services like WordPress, VPS, shared budget-friendly, and dedicated servers, HostGator has a plan for every type of client, from beginners to growing small businesses. You’ll have peace of mind with 24/7 support and a 30-day money-back guarantee if you aren’t happy with the plan you’ve chosen. With HostGator, not only will you get help with a website builder, you’ll also receive a free SSL certificate, domain registration, and professional email addresses. It couldn’t be easier—launch your website today (for so much less) using an updated, always-changing HostGator coupon or HostGator promo code here.

Score Up to 70% Off With This HostGator Coupon

Creating your own website can be stressful and confusing, especially if you’re a novice like me. The Baby HostGator plan is best for most people who need web services and additional help with plans, but maybe don’t need all the bells-and-whistles that the expanded business plan needs. With this HostGator coupon, you’ll get 70% off the Baby web hosting plan, which has everything you’ll need as a jumping-off point, including up to 20 websites, 20GB of memory, one year domain registration, one-click WordPress installation, and more. If this tier of service seems right for you, get it at 70% off (based on a 36-month plan) with HostGator promo code SNAPPY.

Unlock HostGator Promo Code for 76% Off WordPress Hosting

The HostGator Business Plan is ideal for users who have multiple sites that need increased storage, security, and backups. And right now, it’s 76% off at $5.25 per month (based on 36-month pricing). This plan acts as a WordPress staging site with managed WordPress updates, and includes 50 websites, 50 gigs of SSD storage, a free domain for the first year, site migration tools, and advanced security measures and enhanced marketing tools. Read here to see all the details of the differing HostGator plans. Be sure to use HostGator coupon code SNAPPY for the 76% discount.

Save Up to 53% Using HostGator Discount on Top Plan

The HostGator Pro Plan is its top tier, with the most advanced processing power and speeds, and it’s now 53% off—only $14 per month (for 36 months). This expansive plan is ideal for 400,00 visits per month, and includes 100 websites, 100 gigs of SSD storage, and advanced security, marketing, and caching features. Be sure to check out the four different plans to see which is best for your business, including this deal for 53% off the top Pro plan—no HostGator hosting coupon needed.

Get Hassle-Free Domain Registration from $0.99 at HostGator

Have a great idea for a business that isn’t quite up and running yet, but you don’t want to lose out on the million-dollar domain name? Fear not, HostGator’s hassle-free domain registration starts at only $0.99. To start, you’ll search availability on your favorite domain name, or have AI create one for you if you’re stuck. Plus, you can get your HostGator domain included for free for one year if you bundle it with a HostGator hosting plan, no HostGator discount code is needed for this less-than-a-dollar deal.

Up to 36% Off VPS Hosting and Free Migration Tool

Thinking about cybersecurity is no fun, but VPS hosting on your website is a necessary step to protect the privacy and data of both you and your users. This provides next-generation AMD EPYC servers with NVMe storage, stabilized performance, increased control, and advanced security, no matter how much traffic you get. There are various VPS hosting plans, which Hostgator calls ‘Snappy,’ which are priced on a tier system. Right now, you can get up to 36% off the most popular mid-tier plan, including a free migration tool to make the transition safe and seamless.



Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

The Real Losers of the Musk v. Altman Trial

Published

on

The Real Losers of the Musk v. Altman Trial


Attorneys delivered closing arguments in the Musk v. Altman trial on Thursday in a final attempt to convince a judge and jury that their respective clients, Elon Musk and Sam Altman, are the most well-intentioned, truth-telling stewards of OpenAI’s founding nonprofit mission. A judgement could be delivered as soon as next week, ending a decade-long battle between two of the technology industry’s most influential entrepreneurs.

But regardless of the outcome, there is a wide set of losers in this case. Based on ample amounts of evidence, it appears that the people worst off are the employees, policy makers, and members of the public who believed in the mission of a nonprofit research lab—and supported OpenAI because of it. What seemed to take precedent for Musk and OpenAI’s other cofounders at almost every turn was building the world’s leading AI lab—even if that meant creating a multibillion dollar for-profit company in the process.

“It’s hard to see how the public interest is being protected by either of these parties, and that is really what is ultimately at stake in a case about a nonprofit,” says Jill Horwitz, a Northwestern University law professor with expertise in nonprofits and innovation, who listened to the closing arguments. “The public interest in the nonprofit is at risk no matter who wins.”

OpenAI’s stated mission is to ensure artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits humanity, but humanity is not a party in this case. In practice, OpenAI has spent the last decade attempting to rival multitrillion dollar companies like Google, and build AGI first. Additionally, Musk and Altman have fought tooth and nail to be the ones who control OpenAI.

“Musk and Altman are basically locked in a race to be the first to build superintelligence, and they both rightly fear what the other will do if they win. The rest of us should fear them both,” says Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher who joined in 2022 and has raised concerns over the company’s safety culture. He was part of a group of former OpenAI researchers that filed an amicus brief in this case against OpenAI’s for-profit conversion, arguing that the nonprofit structure was critical in their decision to join the company.

At trial, OpenAI’s nonprofit was discussed as if it were yet another corporate investor. OpenAI’s lawyers argued that giving the nonprofit a $200 billion stake in the for-profit company is proof that OpenAI is fulfilling its mission. Public advocacy groups disagree that funding alone is sufficient.

“I am among the many people who are glad to see how many philanthropic resources the OpenAI foundation has at its disposal to do good work,” says Nathan Calvin, VP of state affairs for the AI safety nonprofit Encode, which filed an amicus brief opposing OpenAI’s restructuring earlier in this case. “But it’s worth remembering that the nonprofit also has a governance role, and that the mission of the nonprofit is not that of a typical foundation, it is specifically to ensure that AGI benefits all of humanity. Money is important for that goal and is useful all else equal, but it is not the goal in and of itself.”

Origin Story

Evidence revealed in this case suggests Altman and Musk were in agreement about OpenAI launching as a nonprofit and operating much like a typical startup. They shared the goal of beating Google DeepMind in the race to AGI. But creating OpenAI as a nonprofit turned out to be a horribly inconvenient means to winning that race.

Musk has accused Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, and Greg Brockman, its cofounder and president, of straying from the nonprofit’s founding mission. He claims the founders used his $38 million investment to turn OpenAI into an $850 billion company and make several of its cofounders billionaires.



Source link

Continue Reading

Tech

We Now Know How Many People the CDC Is Monitoring for Hantavirus

Published

on

We Now Know How Many People the CDC Is Monitoring for Hantavirus


The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is monitoring 41 people in the US for the Andes hantavirus after a cruise ship was hit with a rare outbreak, but the risk to the public remains low, according to health officials.

This includes a group of 18 passengers from the cruise ship who are now in quarantine facilities in Nebraska and Georgia. The agency is also monitoring passengers who returned home before the outbreak was identified and others who were exposed during travel, specifically on flights where a symptomatic case was present.

“Most people under monitoring are considered high-risk exposures, and CDC recommends that everyone under monitoring stay at home and avoid being around people during their 42-day monitoring period,” David Fitter, incident manager for the CDC’s hantavirus response, told reporters during a media briefing on Thursday. “We emphasize not to travel across all these groups.”

The Andes virus is a strain of hantavirus found in South America that can be transmitted from person to person. Typically, hantavirus is passed to humans when they come into contact with rodent droppings or urine. A respiratory virus, the disease can cause difficulty breathing and carries a fatality rate of around 35 percent. As of Thursday, the World Health Organization has confirmed 11 cases of the Andes virus among passengers of the MV Hondius cruise ship, including three deaths.

A Department of Health and Human Services official confirmed to WIRED that all Americans who were on board the Hondius at any point during its journey are now back in the US.

The CDC has legal authority to issue federal quarantine and isolation orders to prevent the spread of certain communicable diseases into or within the US. Fitter said on Thursday that the CDC is not using that authority to manage all 41 of the individuals who were potentially exposed to the hantavirus.

“Our approach is based on risk and evidence,” he said. “We are working closely with passengers and public health partners to ensure monitoring and rapid access to care if symptoms develop. Our goal is to work with them and alongside them, building plans based on their specific situations to protect the health and safety of passengers and American communities.”

Individuals will be monitored for 42 days, which is the amount of time it can take for hantavirus symptoms to appear after exposure. Symptoms begin as flu-like, with fever, muscle aches, and fatigue, then rapidly progress to severe respiratory distress.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending