Tuesday, February 4, 2025

AI Buddies Because Agents Are Too Formal (and Intimidating)

AI agents are poised to revolutionize how we interact with technology. Imagine AI as a helpful assistant, integrated into apps and features, that proactively aids us in work, school, and daily life. These "agentic AI" are designed to be autonomous, making decisions to achieve specific goals without constant human input.


Apple users with devices supporting Apple Intelligence will get a taste of this with the iOS 18.4 update, which promises a significantly enhanced Siri. This updated Siri will represent an early step towards agentic AI.


For those unfamiliar with the concept, think of autonomous vehicles, like those already operating in some cities and the self-driving technology Tesla is developing. Agentic AI is similar in its autonomy. It's like having a true personal assistant—one that anticipates your needs and takes action without being explicitly prompted. This goes far beyond setting reminders, answering simple questions, or even executing pre-programmed scripts.

A truly agentic, or "smart," AI—a more advanced version of Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri—would operate with much greater independence. These AI would proactively perform tasks to achieve their designated goals or objectives, freeing us from the need for constant direction.

One example is when we ask for the balance on our credit card or bank account, your Android or iPhone can easily provide that information (or not so easily for Siri in some cases). However, the more autonomous and proactive AI would not only know that information, it may perform certain financial transactions on your behalf - paying bills, transfer money, or even let you know that you are spending more than you normally do. It might even be able to flag questionable transactions and interact with the bank or credit card companies before you even know about it. Let’s go and say you received an email from one of the credit bureaus sends you an email saying that someone is trying to open an account under your name and social security number. You agent may know ahead of time whether it was you that did it or someone else attempting to steal your identity.

Also consider an agent that is cable of monitoring your health needs. Your Apple Watch has AI features such as sleep tracking, heart rhythm analysis for irregular heart beats, and cardio fitness. That is actually not bad at all. Apple Watch has saved countless lives. Agentic AI on the Apple Watch could go much further. It might note some health issues and provide your doctor with your history even as it sets up an appointment. Knowing if you are trying to lose weight, it could craft meal plans and exercises that suit your needs based on your medical history.

There are may more examples of what the future holds when agentic AI is more common place. And we do not have to look too far into the future for that. From Apple to OpenAI to Google, everyone of these companies are working on creating AI partners that free us from making decisions that are generally easy to made with common sense. The only difference is these agents are doing it for us and frees us to take care of other more important tasks in our lives.

Sounds great right? Personally, I am looking forward to it but there are considerations about taking this too far. Privacy issues come to mind but more importantly are social issues. We are giving up control and social interactions to machines and codes. When it comes down to it, a balance ie ncessary. Of course, at times, we are simply talking to machines when as call customer services.

So there is that…



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AI Buddies Because Agents Are Too Formal (and Intimidating)

AI agents are poised to revolutionize how we interact with technology. Imagine AI as a helpful assistant, integrated into apps and features,...