10Xing Your Productivity with AI Agents
AI agents interact with LLMs to autonomously or semi-autonomously perform tasks and achieve specific goals. ChatGPT’s recently released “Custom GPTs” are an early example of AI agents.
What Are AI Agents?
In a nutshell, AI agents:
- Take a set of custom instructions, such as a custom templated prompt
- Have access to a set of tools, such as web browsing, an API, or data analysis capabilities
- Can act autonomously or semi-autonomously to perform specific tasks
AI agents can perform tasks such as:
- Web research
- Data analysis
- Writing and editing
- Sending emails
- Scheduling meetings
- Performing tasks inside software applications via APIs
- Pulling data from APIs
In my opinion, agent apps such as ChatGPT’s Custom GPTs will become the norm in the next few years.
Today, Custom GPTs can take custom instructions and use a limited set of features, such as web browsing, data analysis, and image generation.
But in the near future, we can expect much, much more.
Systems of AI Agents
Once AI agents become integrated with APIs, they will be able to connect to apps directly and perform tasks inside that app.
Imagine being able to give commands or ask questions like these:
- “Send a text message to Bill and tell him I’m going to be late to the BBQ.”
- “Email Alice and ask her if she’s available to meet at 1 pm tomorrow.”
- “Create a new ClickUp task in XYZ space with XYZ description, estimated at XYZ hours, due in 3 days.”
- “I’ve emailed you a spreadsheet. Analyze it and tell me what it’s about.”
These are just a few very minor examples of what AI agents will be doing for us in the very near future.
Their real power comes when you put multiple agents together into one single system.
For instance, let’s say you want a set of AI agents that can help with SEO.
Agents could specialize in tasks that include:
- Domain research
- Keyword research
- Backlink research
- Content research
- Competitor research
- Data analysis
- Content creation
The more agents you have, the more tasks they can perform, and the more of your job you can automate.
AI Agents and the Future of Work
For early adopters of AI, this is great news, because it means you can 10X your productivity with the right system of AI agents.
But for some, this is really bad news, because it means that a lot of jobs will become redundant – and as we’ve seen in 2023, some jobs are already being automated away with AI.
When ChatGPT first got big, I spent weeks locked up in my room exploring its capabilities, researching LangChain, and trying to figure out where this technology is headed.
To me, it seems clear that systems of AI agents are the “next big thing” in AI, so this is where my efforts will be focused.
