Call My Agent!

Building datacentres on the four corners of the Earth since 1999 and seeing who populates them has brought big technology shifts into sharp focus for me over the years and got me some great contacts.

Just last week I had a great chat with Ben Baldieri about AI and the future and I thought I'd add my two cents (or 20 Satoshis) to one aspect of the AI revolution, its connectedness and its impending impact on us all.

One thing he’s convinced about is that we will move from buying apps on an App Store to buying agents on an Agent Store.

Think about it.

If I’m trying to save for a small pension and need some advice, the best I’m going to get today is a call centre from my bank. The person will change each time and they won’t really know me or my long-term aims. My savings are too small to justify any personalised human service. Sitting on a phone or messaging a chatbot and not really getting clear tailored information can be quite frustrating.

Now imagine I go onto the Agent Store. I can select from say 10 different agent styles - from Leroy “Hey how’s it going? – let’s really push the envelope and make some big money!” to Gertrude “I would venture to say that we should be minimising risk in these uncertain times.”

Any of these 10 agents will be able to interface with my bank accounts, life insurance, pension plans et cetera. They will be highly connected through a web of secure connections which they build over time. They’ll provide detailed advice and suggestions as to how I should structure my savings. And all this based on a growing knowledge of me as a person and my own hopes and dreams.

A conversation with my agent might go as follows: “Hey Guy, I’ve been looking at your investments recently and I think we are really overweight on US tech. I’ve been reading some research reports and a lot of people seem to be moving to emerging markets as the new growth sector. How about if we put a 10% into this?”

“OK”

5 seconds later: “Right that’s done – I’ve moved 10% into five different emerging market funds. Oh, and your car insurance is due next month, why don’t we check that now if you’ve got a moment?”

“OK”

10 seconds later: “OK I’ve got five different quotes and I reckon the best is ABC Car Insurance because they have great reviews and their service is rated at 9.2 out of 10. You’ll save 14% on last year and I can change the policy now as I’ve checked you’ve had no accidents and you’re doing the same mileage as last year on average. Let's forget that argument you had with a tree the year before. That really hit your premium.“

“OK, please don't remind me!”

10 seconds later “All done! Car insurance transferred from your current insurer to ABC and I’ll load the documents onto our Blockchain secure storage immediately .”

That’s just one example - agents won’t polish your shoes, change your lightbulbs or fix your plumbing but they will sort out all of those pesky administrative tasks that can eat away at your time. And they’ll get to know you and build connections to make their work better and faster.

Holiday agents will be able to come up with full packages working out the best flights in terms of times and prices, checking out which hotels have the best conditions with the best view, suggesting a few activities and booking a couple, even contacting friends to meet up when you're there, and all this in the space of a few seconds.

Talking to your agent will be like having a conversation with a friend. The discussions can be picked up and dropped at any time because the agent has perfect memory recall.

Of course if you’re going to rely on agents such as these there is an enormous level of trust needed – you’re not going to pick up an agent on the street corner -and so trusted companies will be the ones where you’ll go for this service. That could include banks and big tech for example.

The risks and liabilities with an agent will be high – you can fire an employee for gross misconduct but how about an agent?

Can you sue them? How do you regulate them? Are they taxed? Can they work cross-border?

A lot of exciting issues to look at in the coming years, but one thing is sure, these agents are on their way to screen near you.

There’s been a lot of noise about large language modelling in mega datacentres over the past year and this is just one of the outcomes that I expect.

As with all major technology shifts, it will come slowly and imperceptibly rather than with a big bang - we’ll wake up one morning and say “I need to call my agent”.