Social conflict is a survival mechanism yielding both normal and pathological behaviors. To understand its underlying principles, we collected behavioral and whole-brain neural data from mice advancing through stages of social conflict. We modeled the animals' interactions as a normal-form game using Bayesian inference to account for the partial observability of animals' strengths. We find that our behavioral and neural data are consistent with the first-level Theory of Mind (1-ToM) model where mice form "primary" beliefs about the strengths of all mice involved and "secondary" beliefs that estimate the beliefs of their opponents. Our model identifies the brain regions that carry the information about these beliefs and offers a framework for studies of social behaviors in partially observable settings.

Social conflict is a survival mechanism yielding both normal and pathological behaviors. To understand its underlying principles, we collected behavioral and whole-brain neural data from mice advancing through stages of social conflict. We modeled the animals' interactions as a normal-form game using Bayesian inference to account for the partial observability of animals' strengths. We find that our behavioral and neural data are consistent with the first-level Theory of Mind (1-ToM) model where mice form "primary" beliefs about the strengths of all mice involved and "secondary" beliefs that estimate the beliefs of their opponents. Our model identifies the brain regions that carry the information about these beliefs and offers a framework for studies of social behaviors in partially observable settings.

Automation is changing society as we know it. The precipitating effects of artificial intelligence (AI) seem like a double-edged blade. While it's certainly exciting to see robots manipulate their environment with a hive mind, it's equally as terrifying to think about what these advancements mean for society over time. It's an even stronger cause for concern when billionaire innovators like Alibaba's founder and chairman, Jack Ma, tell us to prepare for more "pain than happiness" in the coming decades due to the impact of AI and the internet. Ma has spoken at several entrepreneurship conferences on the topic, he believes that "social conflicts in the next three decades will have an impact on all sorts of industries and walks of life."