AI agents are sometimes called the third wave of artificial intelligence, being preceded by predictive AI (first wave) and generative AI (second wave).
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The field of agentic AI is sometimes called the "third wave" of artificial intelligence (AI). Agentic AI is the field of AI that produces AI agents, which are autonomous computer programs that can execute complex tasks in pursuit of larger goals in order to assist human users. Unlike generative AI models, AI agents can make decisions on their own and recall past experiences.
While the history of AI stretches back decades — or centuries — recent leaps forward in hardware, software, and data processing have accelerated AI's development, resulting in AI being incorporated into everyday business processes. Some observers have identified three waves or generations of AI in recent years, with each wave building on the one that came before.
These three waves of AI are:
Each of these "waves" of AI was constructed on the technologies and capabilities of the previous one. Generative AI uses predictive AI's probabilistic calculations to group words and concepts together, and generate content in response to human prompts (enabling the creation of large language models like ChatGPT). Agentic AI, in turn, is built on top of generative AI, using the latter's language processing abilities to independently execute tasks across a variety of contexts.
Techniques and algorithms for machine learning, deep learning, and the construction of neural networks were all developed in the decades prior to predictive AI's widespread use. (In fact, the first artificial neural network was built in 1951.) Contemporary versions of AI continue to utilize these technologies, albeit far more advanced versions of them.
More basic types of artificial intelligence, including rudimentary chatbots, also preceded these three waves of AI.
The next wave of AI may build on the capabilities of today's AI agents. What form the next wave will take is yet to be seen, but many believe that the tech industry is building towards what is called artificial general intelligence (AGI), meaning computerized intelligence that is sentient — that can think and reason in the same way humans do.
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