Agents transmit invented languages to newcomers, enabling cumulative cultural evolution

EliasEskin · x · 2026-09-03

Finding 4: agents transmit their invented languages to newcomer agents who must learn from usage alone. Languages vary in transmissibility—a key ingredient of cumulative cultural evolution. Notably, open-source models that never invent languages can still learn to use existing ones, suggesting a few 'special' innovator agents may shift a whole population. Agents also actively engage in conversational repair during transmission.

Related event: GlossoGen: A Reproducible Platform for Studying Emergent Language in LLM Multi-Agent Systems(12 posts)→

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