Several startups are touting AI employees that you can hire to perform a specific function. Itercom announce Fin, an AI customer service agent and so did Maven AGI. Piper is an AI sales development representative and so is Artisan. Devin is a software engineer.
Others want to provide the backbone to power AI employees. Lattice announced support to hire and onboard AI employees (then walked it back). Emergence AI and Enso are building a platform to orchestrate AI agents.
Is this a good idea?
Employment as applied to AI falls victim to reasoning by analogy and arbitrarily constrains artificial intelligence into preconceived constructs. AI agents can work 24/7, but many labor laws classify work around service time of a typical 40 hour work week. AI agents aren’t hired they are purchased, but many labor laws dictate hiring practices an employer must follow.
If you take the position of AI as employee, what follows is a debate about personhood. This is doomed to be an unproductive discussion because the capabilities of AI are not what people think they are.
See also:
- AI as employees stokes fears of job loss but automation doesn’t increase unemployment
- The labor market is merging with the SaaS market
- AI as tools is a simpler way to discuss implications of AI
- Another difference with employees and AI agents is how to get results e.g. replacing training with intent-based outcome specification
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An AI agent is an intent-based abstraction that combines LLMs to plan and take action in order produce a desired goal.