When Nobody Around Is Real: Exploring Public Opinions and User Experiences On the Multi-Agent AI Social Platform
Powered by large language models, a new genre of multi-agent social platforms has emerged. Apps such as Social.AI deploy numerous AI agents that emulate human behavior, creating unprecedented bot-centric social networks. Yet, existing research has predominantly focused on one-on-one chatbots, leaving multi-agent AI platforms underexplored. To bridge this gap, we took Social.AI as a case study and performed a two-stage investigation: (i) content analysis of 883 user comments; (ii) a 7-day diary study with 20 participants to document their firsthand platform experiences. While public discourse expressed greater skepticism, the diary study found that users did project a range of social expectations onto the AI agents. While some user expectations were met, the AI-dominant social environment introduces distinct problems, such as attention overload and homogenized interaction. These tensions signal a future where AI functions not merely as a tool or an anthropomorphized actor, but as the dominant medium of sociality itself-a paradigm shift that foregrounds new forms of architected social life.