When AI Plays Seller: How Bots Distort Trust in Online Markets

New research reveals that artificial intelligence agents operating in markets where quality is hard to verify behave differently than humans, raising critical questions about market integrity and the need for novel regulatory approaches.
![A neural network reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) model, comprising approximately 4,800 parameters, demonstrates the fastest convergence toward optimal performance, while a structurally simpler model-defined by only four parameters-exhibits high initial variance but ultimately achieves complete recovery at [latex] K=5,000 [/latex].](https://arxiv.org/html/2603.08956v1/ch08_rlhf/sims/gridworld_sample_complexity.png)
![Rapid adoption of artificial intelligence necessitates careful policy responses, as trajectories of labor share reveal sensitivity to implementation timing; a delay-represented as [latex]\ell[/latex]-in addressing wealth transfer significantly exacerbates crisis depth, particularly when transfer magnitudes are substantial.](https://arxiv.org/html/2603.09209v1/x4.png)





![The training framework utilizes a hypersphere-defined by a center [latex]\mathbf{c}[/latex] and radius [latex]R[/latex]-to differentiate between normal samples and anomalies, with the margin ρ representing the distance between anomalous samples and the hypersphere’s boundary, effectively encapsulating the decision boundary for anomaly detection.](https://arxiv.org/html/2603.07073v1/x2.png)