Three decades back, I wrote my first program in C, thanks to my dad introducing me to computer programming as a kid. Since then, based on my own experience coding in various computer languages over the decades (C, Visual Basic, C#, PHP, Python, Node JS), I realize we’ve always been on a journey to make computers work for humans, evolving from machine language to assembly, high-level programming, and now natural language interfaces.
The emergence of AI agents marks an apparent evolution towards this paradigm of making computers work for humans.
Of course, AI Agents or Agentic AI, would not be possible without the increasing capabilities of (Large Language Models in the form of) Chatbots. While we may be familiar with what chatbot is, what is different about an AI Agent?
Key Difference: Chatbots vs. AI Agents
- Chatbots (like ChatGPT): Primarily generate text or retrieve information. They provide knowledge or guidance and are often limited to the chat interface. Rely on human input to take action.
- AI Agents: Operate iteratively and autonomously, executing real-world actions across multiple steps, integrating with tools (for example, web browser) and making decisions dynamically to achieve an objective.
While AI Agents are not yet prelevant, most of the foundational building blocks and complementary inventions needed to build them are already here. It’s only a matter of time before the entrepreneurs find the right product-market fit that goes viral!
It took about 30 mins for me to spin up an AI Agent to follow a simple prompt. More importantly, it ran locally on my laptop, including the Large Language Model!PlayAI Agents In Action: Testing out the new “Browser Use” framework