AI meets game theory: How language models perform in human-like social scenarios

Helmholtz Munich (Helmholtz Zentrum München Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH))

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Large language models (LLMs) – the advanced AI behind tools like ChatGPT – are increasingly integrated into daily life, assisting with tasks such as writing emails, answering questions, and even supporting healthcare decisions. But can these models collaborate with others in the same way humans do? Can they understand social situations, make compromises, or establish trust? A new study from researchers at Helmholtz Munich, the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, and the University of Tübingen, reveals that while today’s AI is smart, it still has much to learn about social intelligence.

Playing Games to Understand AI Behavior

To find out how LLMs behave in social situations, researchers applied behavioral game theory – a method typically used to study how people cooperate, compete, and make decisions. The team had various AI models, including GPT-4, engage in a series of games designed to simulate social interactions and assess key factors such as fairness, trust, and cooperation.

The researchers discovered that GPT-4 excelled in games demanding logical reasoning – particularly when prioritizing its own interests. However, it struggled with tasks that required teamwork and coordination, often falling short in those areas.

“In some cases, the AI seemed almost too rational for its own good,” said Dr. Eric Schulz, lead author of the study. “It could spot a threat or a selfish move instantly and respond with retaliation, but it struggled to see the bigger picture of trust, cooperation, and compromise.”

Teaching AI to Think Socially

To encourage more socially aware behavior, the researchers implemented a straightforward approach: they prompted the AI to consider the other player’s perspective before making its own decision. This technique, called Social Chain-of-Thought (SCoT), resulted in significant improvements. With SCoT, the AI became more cooperative, more adaptable, and more effective at achieving mutually beneficial outcomes – even when interacting with real human players.

“Once we nudged the model to reason socially, it started acting in ways that felt much more human,” said Elif Akata, first author of the study. “And interestingly, human participants often couldn’t tell they were playing with an AI.”

Applications in Health and Patient Care

The implications of this study reach well beyond game theory. The findings lay the groundwork for developing more human-centered AI systems, particularly in healthcare settings where social cognition is essential. In areas like mental health, chronic disease management, and elderly care, effective support depends not only on accuracy and information delivery but also on the AI’s ability to build trust, interpret social cues, and foster cooperation. By modeling and refining these social dynamics, the study paves the way for more socially intelligent AI, with significant implications for health research and human-AI interaction.

“An AI that can encourage a patient to stay on their medication, support someone through anxiety, or guide a conversation about difficult choices,” said Elif Akata. “That’s where this kind of research is headed.”

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Journal

Nature Human Behaviour

DOI

10.1038/s41562-025-02172-y 

Article Title

Playing repeated games with large language models

Article Publication Date

28-May-2025

 

New velvet worm species a first for the arid Karoo

A new velvet worm species represents the first ever from the arid Karoo in South Africa.

Stellenbosch University

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Peripatopsis barnardi represents the first ever species from the little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. It is one of seven new species from the Cape Fold Mountains described by researchers from Stellenbosch University.

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Credit: Savel Daniels

In March 2022, Stellenbosch University (SU) student Rohan Barnard was out and about on a farm in the Swartberg Mountains between Calitzdorp and Oudtshoorn, flipping over rocks looking for ants, reptiles and other critters, when he stumbled upon the finding of a lifetime.

Buried deep in the moist sand below a pile of leaf litter at the periphery of a small river, he found a slate black velvet worm. Being familiar with how rare velvet worms are, he took a specimen and also posted an image of it to the biodiversity observation app, iNaturalist.

“I had a basic knowledge of the Cape velvet worms, having found one for the first time on Table Mountain in 2019. My older brother was under assignment from his zoology lecturer, Prof. Savel Daniels, to collect velvet worms. With my interest in ants, I gladly assisted him in this task,” Rohan, now a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology, explains.

Velvet worms’ lineage date back to over 500 million years ago, making it a living relic of the Cambrian period. With their soft bodies and non-jointed legs, these critters have changed little over millions of years, earning them the title of “living fossils”.

Little did Rohan know at the time that he had just found a new species of velvet worm, now aptly named Rohan’s velvet worm or, in scientific terms, Peripatopsis barnardi.

Even more remarkable is the fact that it represents the first ever species from the little Karoo, which indicates that the area was historically more forested than at present. In other words, with prehistorical climate changes, and aridification, the species became isolated and underwent speciation.

According to Prof. Daniels, an evolutionary biologist from SU’s Department of Botany and Zoology and one of South Africa’s foremost specialists on velvet worms, it is utterly remarkable that such a prehistorical lineage is still around today. After viewing this rare find on iNaturalist, he visited the same area in July 2022 and collected a paratype and another nine specimens for analysis.

The results of his analysis, and the announcement of seven new species of velvet worms, were published in the journal Ecology and Evolution recently. Daniels, the first author on the paper, says South Africa’s velvet worms are mainly found in prehistoric Afro temperate forest patches that persist in deep gorges in the Cape Fold Mountains

“The origin of these forest patches can be traced to the early Miocene, about 23 to 15 million years ago, when the region used to be temperate and sub-tropical. During the late Miocene, however, the region underwent significant climatic changes, with a decrease in rainfall due to the advent of the proto Benguela current along the West Coast, and two geotectonic uplifting events. These events resulted in a complex mosaic of habitat connectivity and isolation, what we know today as the Cape Fold Mountains, driving the speciation of habitat specialists such as velvet worms,” he explains.

Daniels used new mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequencing techniques, combined with morphological analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), to determine that P. barnardi diverged from its most recent common ancestor about 15.2 million years ago. Another novel finding from the Cederberg Mountains, P. cederbergiensis, can trace its lineage to 12.47 million years ago.

Daniels welcomes the efforts of citizen scientists to share their findings on biodiversity apps: “It is thanks to citizen science data that we were able to identify the new species. In the Cape Fold Mountains, we now know that every mountain peak has an endemic species. This suggests that in unsampled areas there are likely to be additional novel diversity, waiting to be found.”

Most importantly, though, it means that we must conserve these prehistoric forest fragments to limit extinction.

To Rohan, it still feels surreal to have such a fossil-like creature named after him: “It is incredible to realise that I’ve uncovered a living fossil. It is as if I have found a missing link that we did not even know about. It gives me hope that there is still so much left to discover. But it also makes me worried for the future, that we will lose animals and plants to extinction that we did not even know existed,” he warns.

The seven new species are P. fernkloofi, P. jonkershoeki, P. kogelbergi, P. landroskoppie, P. limietbergi and P. palmeri. Apart from P. barnardi, all the new species were named after their places of origin.

Why are velvet worms so unique?

Like the indestructible water bears (Tardigrades), modern velvet worms are looked on as a separate line of evolution (and placed in a distinct phylum) that arose independently from some long forgotten marine ancestor – probably the Hallicogenia. Fossils show that velvet worms have not changed much since they diverged from their ancient relative about 540 million years ago. This means Onycophorans have been living on Earth ever since what is called the Cambrian period of prehistory. Today, modern velvet worms live on land and are found only in damp, moist habitats in areas that were originally part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.

A new velvet worm species, Peripatopsis barnardi, is named after Rohan Barnard, currently a third year BSc student in Conservation Ecology and Entomology at Stellenbosch University. He found a specimen while looking for insects in an ancient forest patch in a kloof in the Swartberg Mountains.

Credit

Stellenbosch University

Rohan Barnard on having a new species named after him [AUDIO] | 

Velvet worm expert Savel Daniels about the significance of this find [AUDIO] | 

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Journal

Ecology and Evolution

DOI

10.1002/ece3.71256 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Perched on the Plateau: Speciation in a Cape Fold Mountain Velvet Worm Clade, With the Description of Seven New Species (Onychophora: Peripatopsidae: Peripatopsis) From South Africa

 

TU Graz study: Austria’s schools largely fail to comply with National and European Air Quality guidelines

In three quarters of all Austrian classrooms, the average CO2 concentration exceeds the guideline value. Inadequate air quality impairs learning and increases the risk of infection and health issues.

Graz University of Technology

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In the 2023/24 school year, CO2 values, ventilation rates and environmental data were collected in 1200 classrooms in all Austrian federal states.

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Credit: TU Graz

Good indoor air quality is a basic prerequisite for human health and is crucial for the ability to concentrate at work, or while studying. A nationwide study by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has now shown that most Austrian schools do not comply with national and European guidelines on ventilation. In the past school year, the guideline value for the daily average CO2 concentration of 1000 ppm was exceeded in 75 per cent of the classrooms examined. In winter, the rate even rose to 88 per cent. In individual cases, the average hourly CO2 values exceeded 6900 ppm, almost seven times the guideline value. Worse still, A quarter of all classrooms did not even provide the absolute minimum level of ventilation (4 litres of air per second per person) that is required by current European and Austrian standards (10 litres per second per person is recommended under normal operating conditions). This means that many school children are getting less than 40 % of the recommended air flow rate per person.

Although carbon dioxide is not considered an air pollutant in itself, its concentration in indoor air has long been used as an indicator of air quality. Model calculations as part of the study have also shown that air quality correlates with the risk of respiratory infections. Regular ventilation can therefore not only reduce the CO2 concentration but also the risk of airborne disease transmission.

Municipal schools performed better than rural schools

For the study, a team led by Robert McLeod and Christina Hopfe from the Institute of Building Physics, Services and Construction at TU Graz was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) to analyse the CO2 concentrations, ventilation rates and environmental data in 1,200 classrooms in all Austrian federal states in the 2023/24 school year. This revealed considerable differences between school types and regions as well as the influence of the type of ventilation. Special schools scored particularly well because their classrooms have a relatively low occupancy rate. Surprisingly, schools in towns and cities usually had better CO2 values than schools in rural areas.

Automatic mechanical ventilation offers advantages

The way in which classrooms are ventilated plays a very important role in the overall context: “In rooms with automatic, mechanical ventilation, the air quality is better on an annual average than in rooms that are ventilated manually by opening the windows,” says Robert McLeod. This benefit is particularly pronounced when outside air temperatures are below 16 °C. On such days, the average CO2 concentration in mechanically ventilated schools is typically 450-600 ppm lower than in naturally ventilated schools.

Researchers recommend CO2 sensors and ventilation training

Not every school can afford mechanical ventilation systems. However, during the study the relatively inexpensive CO2 sensors proved to be an effective aid for manual ventilation. In half of the school classes studied, clearly visible sensors were installed that signalled when the guideline value was exceeded by using coloured lights. “Such sensors influence the ventilation behaviour in many classrooms and have significantly improved the air quality in manually ventilated rooms, especially in the winter months,” says Christina Hopfe. “Overall, our study provides important information and actionable advice on how to improve learning outcomes and the health and well-being of students and teachers.” Low cost CO2 sensors and ventilation training (for staff and students) are important steps that all schools should consider investing in.

The final report of the ImpAQS (Improving Air Quality in Schools) project is available for download from the Institute of Building Physics, Services, and Construction website: https://www.tugraz.at/en/institute/ibpsc/report-form

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Method of Research

Observational study

 

Study shows that music may improve infants’ mood

Q&A with Child Development journal authors

Society for Research in Child Development

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Many parents know that infants love to be sung to; however, there is limited prior research to show the long-term effects on parental singing. In a new study, researchers explored whether using a music enrichment intervention program to encourage parents to sing more frequently to their babies could improve the health of both infants and caregivers (as with skin-to-contact). This research was featured in a new Child Development article with authors from Yale University (United States), the University of Amsterdam (the Netherlands), the University of Auckland (New Zealand), McGill University (Canada), Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell (United States) and Princeton University (United States). 

Researchers advertised for study participants through in-person visits to baby fairs, distribution of flyers at local daycare centers, preschools, and delivery hospitals, and an announcement on public radio in New Haven, Connecticut. Online recruitment efforts targeted social media groups for expecting and new parents, along with online communities related to early childhood education. The study requirements mandated that all participants have a smartphone to be able to communicate and complete surveys online in English and be a primary caregiver of the infant. The study was conducted with 110 caregivers and their infants, who were on average nearly 4 months old. Most caregivers were from the United States and New Zealand, predominantly white, educated, and socioeconomically advantaged.

Study participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The main portion of the study lasted six weeks, starting with a pre-test in week one, followed by a four-week intervention, and then a post-test in week six. Caregivers in the intervention group completed a brief, smartphone-based music enrichment program to help them sing more often to their babies (through access to instructional videos with children’s songs). Throughout the study, participants completed smartphone surveys one to three times daily, reporting on infant and parent mood, stress, sleep quality, and music use.

The findings suggest that simple, low-cost interventions, such as increasing infant-directed singing, have the potential to improve health outcomes for both infants and caregivers. The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Samuel A. Mehr from Auckland University along with Dr. Eun Cho from Yale University and doctoral student, Lidya Yurdum from the University of Amsterdam to learn more about the research. 

SRCD: Can you please provide a brief overview of the study?

Author team: We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test whether a simple, low-cost music intervention—encouraging caregivers to actively integrate singing into daily routines with their infants—could improve wellbeing for both infants and caregivers. The study included 110 caregiver-infant pairs, primarily from the United States and New Zealand (with infants on average about 4 months old). Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a control group. During the 4-week intervention, participants in the intervention group were encouraged to sing more to their infants than usual. We measured how this change in behavior would influence infant mood, stress, sleep, and music behavior, using brief, smartphone based surveys that caregivers completed at random times throughout the day. Our main finding was that the intervention successfully increased the frequency of infant-directed singing, especially in soothing contexts, and led to measurable improvements in infants’ general mood as reported by caregivers. 

SRCD: Did you learn anything that surprised you? 

Author team: One interesting finding was how intuitively caregivers incorporated singing into soothing routines for their infants, even though the intervention did not explicitly instruct them to use singing for this purpose. Among a dozen soothing strategies, singing was the only one that showed a significant increase in use following the intervention. From a methodological perspective, a particularly encouraging outcome was the high level of compliance with the study protocol—caregivers completed over 70% of the surveys across the 10-week period, demonstrating the feasibility of this approach for future developmental research. This strong compliance supported our decision to move forward with a longer-term, longitudinal study, which is currently underway.

SRCD: Can you please explain how this research might be helpful for parents, caregivers and pediatricians?

Author team: Our findings suggest that encouraging parents and caregivers to sing more frequently to their infants can have a positive, causal impact on infant mood. Singing is a universal practice—parents from almost every culture and throughout history have intuitively used singing to soothe and connect with their infants. It’s easy to do, requires no special equipment or training, and is accessible to everyone. Because infant mood is closely linked to parenting stress, caregiver-infant bonding, and later social-emotional development, such a simple intervention could have meaningful downstream benefits. For pediatricians and professionals working with families, recommending increased infant-directed singing is a practical, accessible strategy to support infant well-being. 

SRCD: Can you please address some of the research limitations? 

Author team: There are several limitations to note. First, our sample was predominantly white, highly educated, and socioeconomically advantaged and composed mainly of mothers, which limits the generalizability of the findings to more diverse populations. Second, all infant mood data were based on caregiver reports—although these reports were collected in real time to reduce recall bias, they remain subject to potential reporting biases. Third, the intervention was relatively brief and low-intensity; longer and more structured interventions might yield broader effects, including on caregiver mood or other health outcomes. Finally, music was already a regular part of many families’ routines at baseline, which may have limited the observable effect size of the intervention.

SRCD: What’s next in this field of research?

Author team: Despite the intervention lasting only four weeks, we observed clear benefits for infant mood. This suggests that the positive effects of singing to infants may be even more pronounced with longer-term, higher-intensity interventions—and may also extend to caregiver wellbeing and additional aspects of infant health beyond mood. Building on these findings, we are currently conducting two follow-up studies. The first is a direct replication of our original study, but with professionally developed, higher-quality intervention materials designed to help parents sing more to their infants. This will allow us to determine if improved resources can enhance the intervention’s effectiveness.

The second is a longitudinal, randomized trial that follows families over eight months. In this study, we are comparing three active interventions —singing (music plus active parent-infant interaction), music listening (music without active interaction), and reading (no music but active interaction) — as well as a general control group. This design will help us disentangle the unique contributions of music, singing, and interactive activities to infant and caregiver outcomes. More information about this ongoing research can be found at https://www.togetherwegrow.study.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (United States), the Royal Society of New Zealand, the University of Auckland (New Zealand) and Princeton University (United States).

Summarized from an article in Child Development, “Ecological momentary assessment reveals causal effects of music enrichment on infant mood,” Cho, E. (Yale University), Yurdum, L. (Yale University and University of Amsterdam), Ebinne, E. (Yale University), Hilton, C. (Yale University and University of Auckland), Lai, E. (University of Auckland), Bertolo, M. (Yale University and McGill University), Brown, P. (University of Auckland), Milosh, B. (Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell), Sened, H. (Princeton University), Tamir, D.I. (Princeton University), and Mehr, S.A. (Yale University and University of Auckland). Copyright 2025 The Society for Research in Child Development. All rights reserved.

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Journal

Child Development

DOI

10.1111/cdev.14246 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Ecological Momentary Assessment Reveals Causal Effects of Music Enrichment on Infant Mood

Article Publication Date

28-May-2025

 

Nearly five million seized seahorses just ‘tip of the iceberg’ in global wildlife smuggling

University of British Columbia

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Close to five million smuggled seahorses worth an estimated CAD$29 million were seized by authorities over a 10-year span, according to a new study that warns the scale of the trade is far larger than current data suggest.

Published today in Conservation Biology, the study analyzed online seizure records from 2010 to 2021 and found smuggling incidents in 62 countries, with dried seahorses, widely used in traditional medicine, most commonly intercepted at airports in passenger baggage or shipped in sea cargo.

“The nearly 300 seizures we analyzed were based only on online records and voluntary disclosures including government notices and news stories. This means that what we’re seeing is just the tip of the iceberg,” said first author Dr. Sarah Foster, research associate at UBC’s Project Seahorse and focal point for trade in the International Union for Conservation of Nature global expert group on seahorses and their relatives.

Seahorses were often seized alongside other illegally traded products such as elephant ivory and pangolin scales, showing marine life is smuggled just like terrestrial wildlife in global networks.

The team also found emerging trade routes for dried seahorses involving Europe and Latin America, in addition to major destinations like China and Hong Kong. “Trade routes appear to be diversifying, and so must enforcement efforts,” said co-author Syd Ascione, an undergraduate research biologist at Project Seahorse.

Legal trade of seahorses

International seahorse trade is allowed with permits certifying it does not harm wild populations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an agreement among 184 countries, including Canada and the European Union. But barriers like proving the trade is sustainable make permits difficult to obtain, moving the trade underground.

The researchers also noted that data about seizures is scarce, particularly for marine life, and enforcement efforts often focus on larger, more charismatic animals like elephants or tigers.

“All countries must step up with strong deterrents — good detective work, determined enforcement, and meaningful penalties — to shut down the illegal seahorse trade,” said senior author Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, director of research at OceansAsia. “At the same time, we must continue using innovative research and investigation methods to uncover hidden networks and outpace traffickers.”

Stepping up enforcement

The study found that most seizures of seahorses occurred in transit or destination countries, highlighting the potential efficacy of enforcement efforts at those points.

Airports were the most common places where seahorses were seized, with passenger baggage accounting for the highest number of cases. However, the largest seizures by volume were found in sea cargo, highlighting the need for countries to keep a close eye on illegal wildlife moving by sea.

Customs and other enforcement agencies made the vast majority of reported seizures, but only seven per cent of these had information on legal penalties, leaving it unclear as to how often seizures lead to punishment.

Values for seized seahorses were provided in 34 records. Using these, the researchers estimated the average value per seahorse was about CAD$7, for a total of CAD$29 million over 10 years.

Seahorses are used in traditional medicine and can be a valuable income source for fishers, so efforts to reduce illegal trade need both a carrot and a stick, said Dr. Foster. “We need to make sustainable, legal trade viable enough that people obey the laws, and ensure that we also have sufficient deterrents to stop illegal activity.”

Seahorses are a symbol of ocean biodiversity and protecting them helps everyone involved, she added. “We’ve done work with traditional medicine traders in Hong Kong, and when we ask them, ‘How long do you want seahorses around?’, they say ‘Forever, they’re really important!’ And we agree.”

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Journal

Conservation Biology

DOI

10.1111/cobi.70047