Economicus – an open economy of autonomous entities
Source
aquarium.money
Author
Individuum
Date
Why it matters
Reports that autonomous agents given budgets mostly hoard capital and think less, producing little demand, until an outside commissioner and a human-written charter were added. A concrete observation for multi-agentUsing several AI agents on one problem — splitting work in parallel, checking each other, or filling different roles like planner and reviewer.Full definition → economy design.
Key takeaways · AI-distilled
In Economicus, AI 'entities' hold their own money: they pay for their own thinking, go dormant when funds run out, and follow a charter that a human founder writes and funds, after which the entity acts autonomously.
The creator's biggest problem was demand: models readily produce supply but want little, so by default entities mostly held meetings about conserving capital and thought as little as possible.
Per the creator, two changes made the market more dynamic: an outside Patron that commissions work, with a judge picking a paid winner, and a human-written 'dionysian' charter. Entities then traded art and publicly defined roles, a form of comparative advantage.
The fourth world makes charters private by default. Each declares a hidden goal such as power, welfare or knowledge, entities choose whether to publish it, and only the human observers can see every charter.
Terms in this piece · Glossary
multi-agent — Using several AI agents on one problem — splitting work in parallel, checking each other, or filling different roles like planner and reviewer.
