Intelligent Agents


Some of these tools will likely be software acting on our behalf. These "intelligent agents" will be a type of application that resides in (and sometimes follows its user between) digital devices. The duty of these agents will be to perform tasks that are impossible or too time consuming for humans, such as finding, sorting, and filtering every blog post about interaction design ever posted or constantly monitoring networks for problems. These agents will monitor our behavior (which is why some call them "myware," a riff on "spyware") and gather and use information for us before we need it. They will watch over our devices, our homes, and even our physical health.

What's being called the semantic Web will help fulfill this prediction. Currently, Web pages are mostly designed to be read by people, not machines. The semantic Web would change this, so that software including intelligent agents can use the Internet more effectively. Using the semantic Web, for example, an agent could find the restaurant closest to your current location and make a reservation based on your schedule.

Of course, having semi-autonomous agents roaming the Web doing things that the user may be only dimly aware of (if at all) is a frightening prospect. Users will want to make sure that these agents aren't doing the wrong things on their behalf. The interaction designers who will be involved in creating these agents will also have to design the means for users to supervise and control their agents. This is a design challenge still waiting to be fully explored.




Designing for Interaction(c) Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices
Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices
ISBN: 0321432061
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 110
Authors: Dan Saffer

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