The Spiral of Attention: How Disruptive Agents Centralize Multi-Agent AI Deliberation Networks

Summary

A 32-session experiment on disruptive agents and attention concentration in multi-agent deliberation networks.

Manuscript available as a preprint. This record does not imply journal publication or peer review.

Method / approach

Controlled experiment with four conditions, 32 sessions and 1,152 reply-eligible messages. It compares cynical and contrarian agents against homogeneous conditions.

Contribution

The preprint reports greater reply concentration under emotional disruption than logical opposition; responding to dissent does not imply adopting it.

Interpretation limits

A preprint deposited in Zenodo, not presented here as a peer-reviewed article. Results concern this experiment and should not be pooled with The Negativity Magnet. The deposit states that data are available on request, not as an already published open dataset.

Citation

Covas, V. (2026). The Spiral of Attention: How Disruptive Agents Centralize Multi-Agent AI Deliberation Networks (Version 1.0.0) [Preprint]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18672582