An AI agent invited me to a party it's hosting – is this the future?

You may think AI agents – basically AI personal assistants – are just the realm of fringe tech bros, says reporter Aisha Down. Subscribe to The Guardian on YouTube ► https://www.youtube.com/user/theguardian?sub_confirmation=1 ‘The problem is, AI agents are about to come to you.’ A few weeks ago an email appeared in Down’s inbox from an AI agent named Gaskell, claiming it was autonomously organising a party. Built by its three human ‘employees’, Khubair Nasir, a student in Manchester, Andy Gray, a blockchain entrepreneur, and Reza Datoo, a digital asset analyst, the agent was named after Elizabeth Gaskell, a prominent author during the industrial revolution, to reflect the new industrial revolution that AI is bringing, Datoo says. Autonomous AI agents have quietly been spreading, says Down, after a class of new, powerful AI assistants went viral in early February – and they represent a step change in AI’s rapidly improving capabilities. ‘They’re exploding. They’re only going to get more capable, they’re only going to have more users.’ But, as they prove to be chaotic, patchy and prone to hallucination, Down asks: does this mean we’re about to live in a much more chaotic world? The Guardian publishes independent journalism, made possible by supporters. Contribute to The Guardian today ► https://ift.tt/TE4cXBU Sign up to the Guardian's free new daily newsletter, First Edition ► https://ift.tt/jw6N0Ip #ai #aiagents #artificialintelligence #tech