\nWe are entering the third phase of generative AI. First came the chatbots, followed by the assistants. Now we are beginning to see agents: systems that aspire to greater autonomy and can work in \u201cteams\u201d or use tools to accomplish complex tasks.<\/p>\n

The latest hot product is OpenAI\u2019s\u00a0ChatGPT agent<\/a>. This combines two pre-existing products (Operator and Deep Research) into a single more powerful system which, according to the developer, \u201cthinks and acts\u201d.<\/p>\n

These new systems represent a step up from earlier AI tools. Knowing how they work and what they can do \u2013 as well as their drawbacks and risks \u2013 is rapidly becoming essential.<\/p>\n

From chatbots to agents<\/strong><\/h4>\n

ChatGPT launched the chatbot era in November 2022, but despite its\u00a0huge popularity<\/a>\u00a0the conversational interface limited what could be done with the technology.<\/p>\n

Enter the AI assistant, or\u00a0copilot<\/a>. These are systems built on top of the same large language models that power generative AI chatbots, only now designed to carry out tasks with human instruction and supervision.<\/p>\n

Agents are another step up. They are intended to pursue goals (rather than just complete tasks) with varying degrees of autonomy, supported by more advanced capabilities such as\u00a0reasoning and memory<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Multiple AI agent systems may be able to\u00a0work together<\/a>,\u00a0communicating with each other<\/a>\u00a0to plan, schedule, decide and coordinate to solve complex problems.<\/p>\n

Agents are also \u201ctool users\u201d as they can also\u00a0call on software tools<\/a>\u00a0for specialised tasks \u2013 things such as web browsers, spreadsheets, payment systems and more.<\/p>\n

A year of rapid development<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Agentic AI has\u00a0felt imminent<\/a>\u00a0since late last year. A big moment came last October, when Anthropic gave its Claude chatbot the ability to\u00a0interact with a computer<\/a>\u00a0in much the same way a human does. This system could search multiple data sources, find relevant information and submit online forms.
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