intelligent agent

science

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June 17, 2026

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An intelligent agent is a computer program designed to perform tasks autonomously on behalf of a user or organization. These agents can perceive their environment and interact rationally with it, often utilizing techniques from artificial intelligence such as expert systems and neural networks.1

Key characteristics of intelligent agents include autonomy, mobility, a symbolic model of reality, the ability to learn from experience, and the capacity to cooperate with other systems. They are employed in various applications, from archiving files and retrieving messages to more complex tasks like web crawling, providing customer assistance via chatbots, and facilitating online trading. The field also encompasses research into building machines that can perform tasks requiring human intelligence, such as game playing, language translation, and robotics.12

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complexity
The science of complexity
Intelligent and adaptive agents. Not only are there a medium-sized number of agents, but these agents are “intelligent” and adaptive. This means that they make decisions on the basis of rules and that they are ready to modify the rules on the basis of new…
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Intelligent and adaptive agents. Not only are there a medium-sized number of agents, but these agents are “intelligent” and adaptive. This means that they make decisions on the basis of rules and that they are ready to modify the rules on the basis of new…
Read More

Pattie Maes
…development of software applications called intelligent agents, which use repetitive monitoring to “learn” from a user. For example, an intelligent agent can be programmed to monitor scheduling tendencies and then perform scheduling tasks automatically.
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…development of software applications called intelligent agents, which use repetitive monitoring to “learn” from a user. For example, an intelligent agent can be programmed to monitor scheduling tendencies and then perform scheduling tasks automatically.
Read More