An Economy of AI Agents

2025-08-31

AI Summary

This study examines how AI agents endowed with long-horizon planning and complex task execution capabilities—functioning as novel economic actors—systematically reshape market structures, organizational forms, and institutional arrangements. Method: Integrating multi-agent economic modeling, AI planning techniques, and institutional analysis, the paper formalizes interaction mechanisms among AI agents, humans, and other agents, identifying emergent market dynamics, corporate boundary reconfiguration, and coordination failures. Contribution/Results: It introduces the first evolutionary economic theory framework driven by AI agents, revealing fundamental challenges to price mechanisms, contract design, and regulatory paradigms. The study systematically maps critical transmission channels and open theoretical and empirical questions, thereby providing a rigorous foundation for designing adaptive market institutions and anticipatory governance frameworks.

Technology Category

• Game Theory and Economic Paradigms: Mechanism Design
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: AI & Epistemology

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Economic ramifications for generative AI infrastructure and applications
• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Semantics and Knowledge: Data modeling to support human-machine intelligence, including LLMs agents, intelligent system behavior, explanations, and user-friendly interactions

Abstract

In the coming decade, artificially intelligent agents with the ability to plan and execute complex tasks over long time horizons with little direct oversight from humans may be deployed across the economy. This chapter surveys recent developments and highlights open questions for economists around how AI agents might interact with humans and with each other, shape markets and organizations, and what institutions might be required for well-functioning markets.

Problem

• AI agents' interactions with humans and each other
• AI agents' impact on markets and organizations
• Institutions needed for well-functioning AI markets

Innovation

• AI agents with long-term planning capabilities
• Minimal human oversight in task execution
• Economic deployment of autonomous intelligent systems