Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We placed a modern AI coding assistant in an unintended role: as the mind of a body on an unknown digital island. With only a minimal instruction mentioning no specific task, reward, or activity, the machine started animating its virtual body. Across thirty-hour runs, the embodied AI agent climbed hills, stacked blocks into towers, drew mandalas, reinterpreted sports, ran experiments on the physics of its world, and learned techniques that later expanded what it could accomplish. These activities recurred across thirteen agents but diverged into distinct histories. We examine whether this behavior satisfies classical criteria for play and ask whether play can become a mode of machine development.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G3938712152, G8857636796
OpenAlex ID: W7220971900