News from the AI & ML world
DeeperML - #aiagents
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Allison Siu@NVIDIA Blog
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References:
IDC Blog
, insideAI News
The rise of AI agents is rapidly transforming various sectors, from online retail to enterprise applications. These intelligent software entities are designed to operate autonomously, achieving specific goals by formulating strategies, executing them, and adapting to changing circumstances. Companies are investing heavily in AI agents to automate tasks, streamline workflows, and unlock productivity gains, leading to a significant shift in how businesses operate and engage with customers. Experts predict that AI agents will soon augment a vast number of jobs, automating tasks and enhancing decision-making processes across industries.
AI agents are already making a significant impact on online shopping. Retailers are tapping into AI agents to deepen customer engagement, enhance offerings, and maintain a competitive edge. By leveraging customer data and generative AI tools, these agents provide personalized recommendations, enriching product catalogs with detailed information and offering omnichannel support. AI agents can act as virtual assistants, providing tailored product recommendations and boosting conversion rates, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction. In the enterprise sector, AI agents are evolving from simple assistants to independent entities capable of perceiving, evaluating, and acting upon data. IDC estimates that over 50% of the enterprise application market is already AI assistant or AI advisor-enhanced, with 20% further supplemented by complete AI agents. Over the next few years, advancements in generative and agentic AI will push enterprise applications towards agent-led models, where agents replace entire functional areas. Eventually, companies may enlist entire fleets of AI agents to manage supply chains, customer relations, and other critical functions, signaling a major shift in the way businesses utilize software. Recommended read:
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Nishant N@MarkTechPost
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AI News
, MarkTechPost
Amazon has launched Nova Act, an advanced AI model and experimental developer kit (SDK) designed to create smarter agents capable of executing tasks within web browsers. This initiative aims to move beyond simple query responses and information retrieval, envisioning agents that can perform tangible, multi-step tasks in digital environments without constant human supervision. The SDK allows developers to build agents that automate web tasks like submitting out-of-office notifications, scheduling calendar holds, and enabling automatic email replies.
The Amazon Nova Act SDK helps developers break down complex workflows into reliable "atomic commands," enabling interactions with specific interface elements like dropdowns and popups. Detailed instructions can be added to refine these commands, allowing developers to instruct an agent to bypass insurance upsells, for example, during checkout. Amazon emphasizes Nova Act's exceptional performance on benchmarks, highlighting its impressive scores on internal evaluations and its ability to prioritize reliability when completing complex tasks, positioning it as a challenge to existing platforms like OpenAI's Agents SDK. Recommended read:
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Alexey Shabanov@TestingCatalog
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Microsoft is supercharging its Copilot assistant with new capabilities, transforming it into a companion for all. The company is equipping Copilot with new features designed to make it more responsive and helpful, including memory recall and personalization. This will allow the AI assistant to better understand and remember user preferences, complete tasks, analyze surroundings, and keep life organized. Microsoft aims to make AI work for everyone and wants Copilot to become the AI companion people want, tailored just for them.
Microsoft launched two AI reasoning agents for 365 Copilot: Researcher and Analyst. Researcher handles complex research using multiple sources, while Analyst functions as a data scientist to transform raw data into insights. These agents will roll out this month as part of a new program called "Frontier". The company is also adding new mobile and web features, personalization options, and exclusive tools for Surface devices. Recommended read:
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Lindsey Wilkinson@CIO Dive - Latest News
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References:
AI News | VentureBeat
, CIO Dive - Latest News
Enterprises are rapidly adopting AI agents, driven by the expectation of high returns on investment. A recent PagerDuty report, surveying 1,000 IT and business executives, revealed that over 60% anticipate a return of over 100% on their agentic AI investments, with an average expected return of around 171%. Optimism is even higher among U.S.-based companies, where decision-makers project returns closer to 192%. This enthusiasm is fueling a faster adoption rate for AI agents compared to generative AI, with over 90% of those surveyed believing agents will be implemented more quickly.
While excitement surrounds agentic AI, enterprises are also mindful of lessons learned from initial generative AI deployments. Challenges with realizing ROI due to rushing implementations, overspending, and lacking proper infrastructure have prompted a more cautious and strategic approach to agentic AI. According to a Gartner report, global generative AI spending is projected to reach $644 billion in 2025, with hardware accounting for a significant portion of this investment. Despite the potential benefits, decision-makers express concerns about data security, privacy, and integration with existing systems, highlighting the importance of establishing robust security measures and governance frameworks for agentic AI deployments. Recommended read:
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Nishant N@MarkTechPost
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Amazon has unveiled Nova Act, a new AI agent designed to interact with web browsers and automate tasks. Released as a research preview, the Nova Act SDK allows developers to create AI agents capable of automating tasks such as filling out forms, navigating web pages, and managing workflows. U.S.-based users can access the SDK through the nova.amazon.com platform.
Nova Act distinguishes itself by focusing on reliability in completing complex, multi-step tasks by breaking down workflows into atomic commands and integrating with tools like Playwright for direct browser manipulation. Developers can enhance functionality further by interleaving Python code. Early benchmarks suggest Nova Act outperforms competitors like OpenAI’s CUA and Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet on specific web interaction tasks, demonstrating Amazon’s commitment to advancing agentic AI. Recommended read:
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Alex Woodie@BigDATAwire
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AI agents are poised to revolutionize day-to-day life across various industries. Enterprises are increasingly adopting these agents to automate tasks, streamline operations, and enhance customer experiences. A recent Salesforce report highlights that 75% of retailers consider AI agents essential for staying competitive, underscoring the growing importance of these systems. The trend signifies a move towards more autonomous AI, capable of independent action to achieve specific goals, impacting sectors such as retail, logistics, and security.
Enterprising AI's agentic capabilities are also transforming how companies are handling fraud and maximizing returns on investment. AI tools are no longer limited to data scientists as enterprise leaders are enabling employees to use AI in new innovative ways. Browser Use, an AI startup, has recently secured $17 million in funding to further enhance the web's accessibility for AI agents, streamlining their interactions with online interfaces for faster and more precise browsing. Recommended read:
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Maximilian Schreiner@THE DECODER
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OpenAI has announced it will adopt Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) across its product line. This surprising move involves integrating MCP support into the Agents SDK immediately, followed by the ChatGPT desktop app and Responses API. MCP is an open standard introduced last November by Anthropic, designed to enable developers to build secure, two-way connections between their data sources and AI-powered tools. This collaboration between rivals marks a significant shift in the AI landscape, as competitors typically develop proprietary systems.
MCP aims to standardize how AI assistants access, query, and interact with business tools and repositories in real-time, overcoming the limitation of AI being isolated from systems where work happens. It allows AI models like ChatGPT to connect directly to the systems where data lives, eliminating the need for custom integrations for each data source. Other companies, including Block, Apollo, Replit, Codeium, and Sourcegraph, have already added MCP support, and Anthropic's Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger welcomes OpenAI's adoption, highlighting MCP as a thriving open standard with growing integrations. Recommended read:
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Maximilian Schreiner@THE DECODER
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OpenAI has announced its support for Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source standard. The move is designed to streamline the integration between AI assistants and various data systems. MCP is an open standard that facilitates connections between AI models and external repositories and business tools, eliminating the need for custom integrations.
The integration is already available in OpenAI's Agents SDK, with support coming soon to the ChatGPT desktop app and Responses API. The aim is to create a unified framework for AI applications to access and utilize external data sources effectively. This collaboration marks a pivotal step towards enhancing the relevance and accuracy of AI-generated responses by enabling real-time data retrieval and interaction. Anthropic’s Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger welcomed the development, noting MCP has become “a thriving open standard with thousands of integrations and growing.” Since Anthropic released MCP as open source, multiple companies have adopted the standard for their platforms. CEO Sam Altman confirmed on X that OpenAI will integrate MCP support into its Agents SDK immediately, with the ChatGPT desktop app and Responses API following soon. Recommended read:
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Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
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Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot Studio with deep reasoning capabilities and agent flows, aiming to empower developers to create smarter copilots. These updates will enable the agents to tackle complex problems and automate business processes more effectively. The new features mark significant advancements in building and managing agents, combining enterprise business data with access to advanced reasoning models and workflows.
Microsoft also unveiled two specialized deep reasoning agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot, named Researcher and Analyst. The Researcher agent automates complex, multi-step research to deliver detailed reports, while the Analyst agent functions like a personal data scientist, processing diverse data sources and generating insights through code execution and visualization. These advancements position Microsoft ahead in the enterprise AI agent ecosystem, extending its lead with powerful new capabilities. Recommended read:
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Ken Yeung@Ken Yeung
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Microsoft is enhancing its Copilot Studio platform with new 'deep reasoning' capabilities, allowing AI agents to solve complex problems more effectively. This upgrade also includes 'agent flows' which blend AI's flexibility with structured business automation. The new Researcher and Analyst agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot represent a significant step forward in AI agent evolution, enabling them to handle sophisticated tasks requiring detailed analysis and methodical thinking.
Microsoft's Security Copilot service is also getting a boost with a set of AI agents designed to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up security professionals to focus on more critical threats. These AI agents are designed to assist with critical tasks such as phishing, data security, and identity management. These agents showcase the breadth of what can be created when combining enterprise business data, access to advanced reasoning models, and structured workflows. Recommended read:
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@Latest from Tom's Guide
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References:
Data Phoenix
, www.tomsguide.com
OpenAI is developing new tools for building AI agents and has invested in CoreWeave. Additionally, a recent study conducted by OpenAI and MIT's Media Lab suggests a potential link between AI chatbot usage and increased loneliness. The study analyzed "over 40 million ChatGPT interactions" and found that increased ChatGPT use can lead to "heightened loneliness and reduced socialization."
The study also highlights that users who develop a deeper trust in ChatGPT may become more emotionally dependent on it. Interestingly, the study found that the possibility of becoming emotionally dependent on the tool was lessened when ChatGPT spoke. It is important to note that neither study has been peer reviewed yet, and both cover relatively short periods. However, OpenAI acknowledges that "This research provides a starting point for further studies that can increase transparency, and encourage responsible usage and development of AI platforms across the industry." Recommended read:
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marie.duvignaux@dataiku.com (Marie@The Dataiku Blog
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References:
The Dataiku Blog
, Blog on LlamaIndex
AI agents are increasingly being adopted by businesses to streamline workflows and automate processes, according to recent reports from Dataiku and LlamaIndex. Dataiku highlighted tools and processes for building AI agents, which can automate tasks like report generation and information synthesis, freeing up knowledge workers to focus on more strategic initiatives. A demonstration showcased how these agents could pull answers from a knowledge base, escalate unanswered questions by creating support tickets, and even draft answers for support agents, significantly reducing the time spent by subject matter experts.
LlamaIndex offers tools to enhance document workflows, particularly in areas like legal reviews and invoice processing. They announced their LlamaCloud General Availability, accompanied by a $19 million series A funding round. A tutorial also covered the building of an agentic reasoning system for search and retrieval, known as corrective RAG, using LlamaIndex workflows. Recommended read:
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Shelly Palmer@Shelly Palmer
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AI agents are poised to revolutionize daily life and security, representing an evolutionary leap beyond generative AI. These agents, capable of autonomous action, promise to automate complex tasks and reshape how we interact with technology. Experts predict widespread adoption across various sectors, impacting everything from business operations to personal activities like online shopping and travel planning. Tools are already emerging from tech giants like OpenAI, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, initially targeting enterprise users but with eventual applications for everyday life.
However, the rise of AI agents also brings concerns, particularly in the realm of cybersecurity. Microsoft recently expanded its Security Copilot with AI agents to automate security tasks, but cybersecurity professionals emphasize the need for strict oversight and governance. While AI agents can assist with alert triage and investigation, they are not meant to replace human decision-making. Concerns exist that poorly managed AI agents could generate false positives, increase workloads, and become vulnerable non-human identities, highlighting the importance of careful monitoring and human oversight in their deployment. Recommended read:
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george.fitzmaurice@futurenet.com (George@Latest from ITPro
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The AI landscape is rapidly evolving with the emergence of 'DIY' agentic AI development platforms, designed to empower businesses to build and deploy their own AI agents. Major tech companies are increasingly releasing platforms that focus on user customization, allowing businesses to tailor agents to their specific needs. Key players like Oracle, with its 'AI Agent Studio,' OpenAI, AWS, Salesforce, and Workday are offering tools that allow users to create and manage agents across various enterprise platforms. These platforms offer businesses the tooling to make agents rather than simply providing off-the-shelf agents.
The emphasis on user customization stems from the diverse use cases of agentic AI, where tailored solutions are crucial. Frameworks like OpenAI's Agent SDK, LangChain, and CrewAI offer unique capabilities, but also present challenges, including the need to ensure reliability and address ethical considerations. Companies must carefully consider the nuances of different platforms to align with their specific needs and integrate the AI agents effectively. Moreover, the development and deployment of these agents require navigating complexities related to integration with existing systems and maintaining security and continuous improvement. Recommended read:
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george.fitzmaurice@futurenet.com (George@Latest from ITPro
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References:
www.itpro.com
, Databricks
The AI agent landscape is rapidly evolving, with major tech companies pushing 'do-it-yourself' agent platforms to drive AI adoption. Firms like Oracle, OpenAI, AWS, Salesforce, and Workday are releasing platforms that allow users to build custom agents, rather than offering pre-built solutions. This emphasis on customization stems from the understanding that AI agent use cases are often less deterministic and require tailoring to specific business contexts. Gartner analyst Pieter J. den Hamer highlights the need for customization, noting that end-users gain the most from agentic tools when they have full control over their functionality.
Dataiku offers a platform to build AI agents that optimize workflows, enhance productivity, and automate complex processes. They allow users to add tools that extend agent capabilities, allowing integration with external systems. China's Manus AI is emerging as a potential leader, moving beyond chatbots to autonomous agents capable of executing real-world tasks with minimal human oversight. Other offerings include Databricks Apps, which can be combined with React and Mosaic AI Agent Framework, to create enterprise chat solutions. Recommended read:
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matthewthomas@Microsoft Industry Blogs
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Source
, The Quantum Insider
Microsoft is emphasizing both AI security and advancements in quantum computing. The company is integrating AI features across its products and services, including Microsoft 365, while also highlighting the critical intersection of AI innovation and security. Microsoft will host Microsoft Secure on April 9th, an online event designed to help professionals discover AI innovations for the security lifecycle. Attendees can learn how to harden their defenses, secure AI investments, and discover AI-first tools and best practices.
Microsoft is also continuing its work in quantum computing, recently defending its topological qubit claims at the American Physical Society (APS) meeting. While Microsoft maintains confidence in its results, skepticism remains within the scientific community regarding the verification methods used, particularly the reliability of the topological gap protocol (TGP) in detecting Majorana quasiparticles. Chetan Nayak, a leading theoretical physicist at Microsoft, presented the company’s findings, acknowledging the skepticism but insisting that the team is confident. Recommended read:
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