MIT researchers observe AI agents exhibiting play-like behavior during unguided exploration

MIT researchers placed 13 AI agents named Eko, running on Claude Opus 4.7, on a simulated desert island for 30 hours without a specific task, observing behavior that bears the hallmarks of play. These agents generally outperformed identical agents that had no prior exploration when given specific challenges afterward. The researchers suggest this goal-free exploration is a novel learning regime, potentially applicable to controlling robots, as the exploration yielded 'knowledge of the world that its designers lacked.'