What if I told you we’re building virtual people to understand ourselves better?
What would you do if you had control of a world where AI Sims were real enough to live, work, throw parties, and even gossip about their neighbors? A sandbox where you could test your boldest, craziest ideas on a world that doesn’t exist—without the protests, disasters, or Twitter meltdowns.
You could see what happens if you marry that person, have kids, or quit your job to move to Bali. Or go bigger—test universal basic income, slap tariffs on imports, or redesign traffic systems to stop rush hour madness.
No risks. No regrets. Just answers.
That’s exactly what a team from Stanford and Google is building: a crystal ball powered by AI.
When I First Heard About Smallville, I Couldn’t Stop Thinking About The Sims
You know The Sims—that game where you build dream houses, get rich, and start fires on purpose just to see what happens. The researchers started with something like that—a tiny digital village called Smallville.
Where 25 Sims lived human-like lives, complete with work routines, party invites, and unexpected drama. But here’s the twist: these Sims weren’t scripted NPCs. They acted spontaneously, closer to you and me than any game character has ever come.
Then, one year later, the same team scaled up the village. In their latest experiment, they created 1,052 AI agents, each modeled on real people, to simulate society at scale.
These agents didn’t just act—they thought, adapted, and behaved — like us. They remembered conversations, built relationships, and made decisions that rippled through their world in ways no one predicted.
We’ve Always Wanted to Simulate Our World.
Humans have been obsessed with simulations for centuries. Why? Because life is messy, unpredictable, and—dangerous.
If we had tools like Smallville in the past, maybe we could have avoided history’s worst experiments. Imagine Mao testing his China’s Cultural Revolution plans in a sandbox first. Maybe millions wouldn’t have starved.
Or what if David Cameron would have a chance to sandbox the Brexit votes, or maybe Trump could simulate the ripple effects of slapping tariffs on imports?
But let’s be real: If politicians were logical, they’d find a better-paid job w/o taking bribery ;)
What you can expect from this article…
Smallville: When God Finally Breathed into Adam (the 2023 paper in plain English)
What if we scale it from 25 to 1000 population? (the 2024 Nov. paper in plain English)
A crystal ball for the real world
The big question: Are the AI agents cost-effective, and are we simulated?
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