Agents Are Not Enough

TL;DR

This paper argues that solely relying on autonomous agents is insufficient for effective AI systems, emphasizing the need for an ecosystem including Sims and Assistants to better represent user preferences and facilitate interaction.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive ecosystem framework that combines agents, Sims, and Assistants to enhance AI effectiveness beyond traditional autonomous agents.

Findings

Generative AI alone is insufficient for successful agents.

An ecosystem including Sims and Assistants improves agent effectiveness.

Historical analysis reveals limitations of past agent approaches.

Abstract

In the midst of the growing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into various aspects of our lives, agents are experiencing a resurgence. These autonomous programs that act on behalf of humans are neither new nor exclusive to the mainstream AI movement. By exploring past incarnations of agents, we can understand what has been done previously, what worked, and more importantly, what did not pan out and why. This understanding lets us to examine what distinguishes the current focus on agents. While generative AI is appealing, this technology alone is insufficient to make new generations of agents more successful. To make the current wave of agents effective and sustainable, we envision an ecosystem that includes not only agents but also Sims, which represent user preferences and behaviors, as well as Assistants, which directly interact with the user and coordinate the execution of user tasks with the help of the agents.