One style for the way people interact with technology is the interaction metaphor of direct manipulation which requires the user to initiate all tasks directly and to monitor all events.
Techniques from the field of AI, in particular “autonomous agents” or “intelligent agents”, can be used to implement a complementary style of interaction, which has been referred to as indirect management. Instead of user-initiated interaction via commands and/or direct manipulation, the user is engaged in a cooperative process in which human and intelligent agents both initiate communication, monitor events and perform tasks. The metaphor used is that of a personal assistant who is collaborating with the user in the same work environment. The assistant becomes gradually more effective as it learns the user’s interests, habits and preferences (as well as those of his or her community).
Intelligent agents bring forth images of human-like automatons working without supervision on tasks. Automata are not new concepts. Intelligent machines have existed in fact or fiction for centuries. Perhaps the most relevant predecessors to intelligent agents are servomechanisms and other control devices, including factory control and the automated takeoff, landing, and flight control of aircraft.
Intelligent agents are different from the automated devices of earlier eras because of their computational power. They have Turing-machine powers, they take over human tasks, and they interact with people in human-like ways perhaps with a form of natural language, perhaps with animated graphics or video. Some agents have the potential to form their own goals and intentions, to initiate actions on their own without explicit instruction or guidance, and to offer suggestions to people. Thus, agents might set up schedules, reserve hotels and meeting rooms, arrange transportation, and even outline meeting topics, all without human intervention. Other even more complex interventions into human activities are possible.