AI agents have a big problem: Nobody wants to let them in(www.pcworld.com)
12 pointsby PLenz3 hours ago3 comments
  • Kim_Bruning2 hours ago
    I actually do a lot of work via agents. Personally I still prefer to have actual bank transfers etc under my direct control, but I do have agents doing searches, lookups, and diverse chores for me.

    If my agent(s) can't find you or are locked out of finding out what you have on offer; then I will never hear of you; and it's unlikely that we're going to be doing business.

    Note that a lot of people use chatgpt or gemini instead of google search or ddg to interact with the web these days; simply because the search engines have stopped being as useful. So agents might be the only way you'll be getting found in a couple of years.

    • greggoBan hour ago
      > simply because the search engines have stopped being as useful

      While there's definitely some truth to this for Google (I haven't noticed with DDG), it clearly isn't the only reason. The moment Google shoehorned Gemini into the top of search results, that was enough for a lot of people to say "good enough". Because laziness and susceptibility to convenience are very real things.

  • footoverhand2 hours ago
    I've been collecting datasets of different sources while I can so that they can be instantly and always available to my agents. Spans subreddits, vehicle forums, 3d printing, etc... Basically anytime a source can be blocked or rate limited, I look at acquiring it.
    • tweetle_beetle2 hours ago
      So much of AI goldrush feels like crabs in a bucket. "I'll do whatever I can to get a leg up on my neighbour today." But ultimately it's pointless - the advantage will be short lived and everyone will end up in the same spot. Only bigcorp has the money to break the laws to spin the flywheel to consume the content to train the models to rent services to you.
  • waximabbax2 hours ago
    I don't think its gonna happen any time soon. Its too risky.

    AI agents although autonomous aren't deterministic unlike compilers.

    Now humans are also not deterministic and are autonomous in the human context but they have a lot to lose and can own outcome and can be held responsible unlike AI agents or their parent companies.

    Unless a company is willing to guarantee outcome and bear with the losses, no one will trust AI agents for shopping and banking apps and full root access to personal mobile phones.