EXP-LEVIN-HOTSWAP
… pendingLevin hot-swap — replace Charlie with goal-less Echo at r21, test neogenesis
In plain language
This experiment investigates whether a new member joining a specialized group can automatically adopt the role of a departed member, even without being explicitly told what to do. Researchers replaced one agent with a new one that had no assigned task, but allowed it to receive the same communication signals as the original member. The results are still pending to see if the new agent successfully takes on the missing role or fails to integrate.
▶ Technical details
Research hypothesis
Recall test (exp-levin-recall): remaining agents absorb lost function via asymmetric goal-compatibility (Alpha→memory, Delta→network). This experiment tests deeper claim: NEOGENESIS — does coupling alone induce identity in a new member who arrives with no goal? Setup: 4-agent organism reaches specialization by r20. At r21, Charlie is REPLACED by Echo (new agent, no assigned goal, empty initial state). Echo receives all coupling signals from Alpha/Bravo/Delta but has no own target. Pre-registered prediction: - Positive (NEOGENESIS): Echo's content gradually aligns with the missing Charlie role (distributed-memory keywords) without explicit assignment. Coupling signals socialize the new member into the lost role.
- Negative: Echo produces noise / random topics / fails to integrate. Coupling alone cannot induce identity without goal scaffold.
Either outcome BIG. Positive = LLM organism has identity-induction property (cells become specialists from collective context, not from cell-intrinsic programming). Negative = goal-as-prompt is necessary substrate for coupling to work; identity is not coupling-derived.
Experimental setup
Type: factorial
| Condition | Parameters |
|---|---|
| HOTSWAP_REPLACE | coupling: true, coupling_mode: real, goals_mode: diverse, ablation_round: 21, ablation_target: Charlie, ablation_mode: replace, n_runs: 3 |
| HOTSWAP_REMOVE | coupling: true, coupling_mode: real, goals_mode: diverse, ablation_round: 21, ablation_target: Charlie, ablation_mode: remove, n_runs: 3 |
Factors: swap (replacement, removal)
Parameters
- n_agents
- 4
- n_rounds
- 40
- model
- google/gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- temperature
- 0.85