Hype Aside, Here’s How AI ‘Agents’ Can Really Help: Parmy Olson

So-called agents are meant to be the next big thing in artificial intelligence this year. If the breathless headlines about them are to be believed, you might think your job is on the line. It’s not (for now at least) — but some back-office occupations probably are.

Last week, OpenAI announced its first agent-like tool called Operator, which carries out online tasks like navigating to a website and clicking on buttons, according to the company. But the idea is not unique. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Anthropic and Salesforce Inc. have all launched platforms for agents, or AI systems that can act autonomously. Imagine, for instance, a ...