IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/apmaco/v518y2026ics0096300325006198.html

Impact of interaction diversity and interlayer coupling on the evolution of human-AI cooperation

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Bo
  • Zuo, Pengfei
  • Xia, Chengyi
  • Zhang, Tianyi
  • Dong, Suyalatu
  • Liu, Chunyang

Abstract

In the context of a digitized society characterized by profound human-artificial intelligence (AI) interaction, the evolutionary dynamics of cooperative behavior confront novel challenges. This study develops a two-layer network evolutionary game model that couples a human decision-making layer with an AI system layer, aiming to investigate how bidirectional interlayer coupling mechanisms influence the emergence and sustainability of cooperation. We find that interlayer coupling facilitates the emergence and stabilization of cooperative behavior across both the AI and human layers. However, the efficacy of this facilitative effect is highly contingent upon the relative dependency configurations between two networks. When interaction diversity (link-strategy) is introduced within the AI layer, the system’s resilience to the temptation of defection is markedly enhanced, resulting in elevated levels of cooperation. Conversely, excessive interaction diversity within the human layer may, under certain conditions, undermine cooperative coordination, particularly in scenarios characterized by high interlayer dependency. Moreover, the AI layer exhibits substantial adaptive capacity, maintaining relatively stable behavioral patterns across varying human decision-making regimes, thereby enabling the emergence of a robust mixed equilibrium of cooperation and defection. This study proposes a computational model to explore the evolutionary dynamics of cooperation in human-AI collaborative environments, offering new insights into AI governance, multi-agent system design, and related domains.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Bo & Zuo, Pengfei & Xia, Chengyi & Zhang, Tianyi & Dong, Suyalatu & Liu, Chunyang, 2026. "Impact of interaction diversity and interlayer coupling on the evolution of human-AI cooperation," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 518(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:apmaco:v:518:y:2026:i:c:s0096300325006198
    DOI: 10.1016/j.amc.2025.129894
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0096300325006198
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.amc.2025.129894?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Szolnoki, Attila & Perc, Matjaž & Danku, Zsuzsa, 2008. "Towards effective payoffs in the prisoner’s dilemma game on scale-free networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(8), pages 2075-2082.
    2. Kreps, David M. & Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John & Wilson, Robert, 1982. "Rational cooperation in the finitely repeated prisoners' dilemma," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 245-252, August.
    3. Yan, Zeyuan & Zhao, Hui & Liang, Shu & Li, Li & Song, Yanjie, 2024. "Inter-layer feedback mechanism with reinforcement learning boosts the evolution of cooperation in multilayer network," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    4. Wu, Yu’e & Zhang, Zhipeng & Wang, Xinyu & Yan, Ming & Zhang, Qingfeng & Zhang, Shuhua, 2021. "Evolution of cooperation in the multigame on a two-layer square network," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 400(C).
    5. F. Fu & L.-H. Liu & L. Wang, 2007. "Evolutionary Prisoner's Dilemma on heterogeneous Newman-Watts small-world network," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 56(4), pages 367-372, April.
    6. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, 2003. "The nature of human altruism," Nature, Nature, vol. 425(6960), pages 785-791, October.
    7. Zeng, Ziyan & Li, Yuhan & Feng, Minyu, 2022. "The spatial inheritance enhances cooperation in weak prisoner’s dilemmas with agents’ exponential lifespan," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 593(C).
    8. Gao, Bo & Gao, Shiyi & Wang, Xi & Zhang, Juan & Bu, Fanyu & Liu, Yang, 2025. "Multi-hop centralized seeding strategy for influence maximization in information limited networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 679(C).
    9. Ledyard, John O., "undated". "Public Goods: A Survey of Experimental Research," Working Papers 861, California Institute of Technology, Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences.
    10. Gao, Hongyu & Wang, Juan & Zhang, Fan & Li, Xiaopeng & Xia, Chengyi, 2021. "Cooperation dynamics based on reputation in the mixed population with two species of strategists," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 410(C).
    11. Chris L. Baker & Julian Jara-Ettinger & Rebecca Saxe & Joshua B. Tenenbaum, 2017. "Rational quantitative attribution of beliefs, desires and percepts in human mentalizing," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(4), pages 1-10, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Faqi Du & Feng Fu, 2011. "Partner Selection Shapes the Strategic and Topological Evolution of Cooperation," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 354-369, September.
    2. repec:osf:socarx:hgznu_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Chi-Hsiang Liu & Shih-Feng Tsai & Ting-Cih Chen & Hsiu-Wen Cheng, 2024. "The signaling role of feedback in the repeated public goods game: Experimental evidence from the laboratory," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-12, February.
    4. Haan, Marco & Kooreman, Peter, 2002. "Free riding and the provision of candy bars," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 277-291, February.
    5. Burton-Chellew, Maxwell, 2022. "The restart effect in social dilemmas shows humans are self-interested not altruistic," SocArXiv hgznu, Center for Open Science.
    6. Luo, Yijun & Huang, Changwei & Han, Wenchen, 2024. "The evolution of cooperation and global synchronization in the evolutionary Kuramoto dilemma combined with the prisoner's dilemma," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 482(C).
    7. Li, Zhibin & Jia, Danyang & Guo, Hao & Geng, Yini & Shen, Chen & Wang, Zhen & Li, Xuelong, 2019. "The effect of multigame on cooperation in spatial network," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 351(C), pages 162-167.
    8. Quan, Ji & Yang, Haoliang & Wang, Xianjia, 2025. "Cooperation dynamics in a two-state spatial prisoner's dilemma game with reputation-driven transitions," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    9. Reischmann, Andreas & Oechssler, Joerg, 2018. "The Binary Conditional Contribution Mechanism for public good provision in dynamic settings — Theory and experimental evidence," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 104-115.
    10. Bruno S. Frey & Margit Osterloh, "undated". "Yes, Managers Should be Paid Like Bureaucrats," IEW - Working Papers 187, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    11. Gagen, Michael, 2013. "Isomorphic Strategy Spaces in Game Theory," MPRA Paper 46176, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Nikiforakis, Nikos, 2008. "Punishment and counter-punishment in public good games: Can we really govern ourselves," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1-2), pages 91-112, February.
    13. Simon Gaechter & Benedikt Herrmann, 2008. "Reciprocity, culture, and human cooperation: Previous insights and a new cross-cultural experiment," Discussion Papers 2008-14, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    14. Simon Gächter & Esther Kaiser & Manfred Königstein, 2024. "Incentive contracts crowd out voluntary cooperation: Evidence from gift-exchange experiments," Discussion Papers 2024-02, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    15. Zheng, Lei & Li, Youqi & Zhou, Jingsai & Li, Yumeng, 2022. "The effect of celebrity on the evolution of fairness in the ultimatum game," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 585(C).
    16. Gary E Bolton & Axel Ockenfels, 1997. "A Theory of Equity, Reciprocity, and Competition," Levine's Working Paper Archive 1889, David K. Levine.
    17. Duh, Maja & Gosak, Marko & Perc, Matjaž, 2021. "Public goods games on random hyperbolic graphs with mixing," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    18. Lee, Hsuan-Wei & Cleveland, Colin & Szolnoki, Attila, 2023. "Group-size dependent synergy in heterogeneous populations," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    19. Tóbiás, Áron, 2023. "Rational Altruism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 50-80.
    20. Anderson, Simon P. & Goeree, Jacob K. & Holt, Charles A., 1998. "A theoretical analysis of altruism and decision error in public goods games," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 297-323, November.
    21. Vincenz Frey, 2017. "Boosting trust by facilitating communication: A model of trustee investments in information sharing," Rationality and Society, , vol. 29(4), pages 471-503, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:apmaco:v:518:y:2026:i:c:s0096300325006198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-mathematics-and-computation .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.