Double meaning of agent

In what sense are intelligent agents agents?

‘agent’ means either

• 1. a doer or actor with some amount of free will or control over events within a context, or alternatively
• 2. an entity controlled by a principal, but with some degree of independence.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/agent doesn’t recognize any tension between the meanings.

Compare and contrast the meanings.

A Mail User Agent is your email app. A Mail Transfer Agent is what moves the email between mail servers. In which sense is ‘agent’ being used? The first sense, rather than the second, perhaps? Or, both?

There is a commonality between the 2 meanings, but is it autonomy, varying in degree? Before, a sense of ambiguity was not felt, I guess.

A duplicitous agent, actually double agent is a secret agent who one side believes is working for them against an adversary, but is actually working for the other side, or themselves, against them.

Compare with the principal-agent problem describing the conflict of interests involved in the second sense.¹

But the AI community wants to call its AI apps ‘agents’? Is it aware of the slippery slope it is placing AI on?

Read AgainstAgency

Me at

• Back to AI
• Back to AutoAntonym

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1. I’m trying to remember where I came across the problem. I think it’s important when taking note of information to also note its provenance, and what led me to finding out about it (eg, with the referrer in an HTML link). As explained in a mastodon toot↩︎