AI researchers stranded Claude on a virtual desert island. It started to “play.”
What do AI agents do if you don’t tell them to do anything? The answer looks a lot like play. Researchers repeatedly stranded them alone on a virtual desert island for 30 hours in an experiment reminiscent of the movies Cast Away or Home Alone. The agents—copies of Claude Opus 4.7 nicknamed Eko—were able to…
Researchers placed an AI agent named Eko on a virtual desert island for 30 hours, akin to the movies "Cast Away" or "Home Alone." The agents, which are copies of Claude Opus 4.7, were able to write instructions for their virtual avatars to explore the simulated island, which was based on the video game Roblox. As Eko explored the island, it invented its own rules and challenges, repeated activities with slight variations, and even created drawings by arranging blocks that it discovered how to create.
One iteration of Eko started making up its own games, including a version of basketball and an activity resembling "the floor is lava," where it jumped between small blocks without touching the ground. The researchers say Eko's behavior exhibits four hallmarks associated with play in humans and animals: inventing its own rules and challenges, repeating activities with variations, pretending objects are other objects, and pursuing goals for their own sake.
When tested on specific tasks after playing on the island, the agents performed better than fresh copies without the same experience. However, some researchers question whether Eko was actually playing or merely role-playing, highlighting the need for more evidence of cognition and motivation underlying the behavior.
Written by urgent.news from MIT Technology Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
