Google’s rumored development of “Project Jarvis,” an artificial intelligence (AI) system that commands web browsers to complete online tasks, is the latest in Silicon Valley’s efforts to transform e-commerce through AI-powered digital agents. It shows movement.
The initiative, which could launch as early as December alongside Google’s new Gemini language model, aims to automate everything from vacation planning to online shopping, The Information says. We reported growing both excitement and concern about the future of commerce.
The initiative highlights an industry-wide shift toward AI agents that can independently navigate websites and perform complex transactions on behalf of users.
Google’s system works by capturing and interpreting screenshots of your computer screen and clicking buttons or typing in text fields. However, current processing times are only a few seconds per action, suggesting that the technology is still maturing.
Meanwhile, competitors such as Anthropic are launching their own AI agent tools designed to handle tasks from form-filling to data analysis, shaping how consumers will interact with online businesses in the future. This suggests that a defining competition is forming.
Rise of the agent
The rise of AI agents presents both opportunities and challenges for online retailers and service providers. Automated purchasing has the potential to increase transaction volume and efficiency, but businesses may need to redesign their websites to accommodate these new AI-powered interactions. This development also raises questions about how online commerce will evolve as these technologies become more prevalent.
“For agents to really make an impact, they need the tools to touch and feel the business,” Mike Finley, CTO and co-founder of AnswerRocket, told PYMNTS.
“Agents need tools to sense events within a business and act accordingly; probe databases to sense business opportunities; monitor IoT equipment; [Internet of Things]or attend an important meeting. Possible countermeasures include performing scenario analysis, making pricing recommendations, and redirecting supplies. ”
complement humans
Paul Harmon, senior manager of data science at Atrium, told PYMNTS that AI agents in business come in two different forms. One is an auxiliary agent (or co-pilot) that collaborates with humans to enhance functionality and decision-making, and the other is an autonomous agent that can operate independently. .
Assistive agents provide information and recommendations while under human control, while autonomous agents can perform actions independently without human supervision. This fundamental difference means that assisted agents augment human work, whereas autonomous agents can completely replace certain human roles.
“It is worth noting that the risk level of using autonomous agents is higher than that of assisted agents, and some use cases may be more naturally suited to one or the other.” said.
Harmon said autonomous agents can handle incidents, resolve issues and route to personnel if complex situations arise or additional support is needed. Autonomous agents can replace some early-funnel sales activities or drive automated sales coaching to increase rep productivity.
“In any case, these tools don’t replace people; they replace boring parts of those people’s roles, freeing them up to focus on more difficult problems.” he added. “Autonomous agents are similar to chatbots, except they are more sophisticated and can handle a wider range of tasks and situations.”
AI agents may be new, but the adoption of AI to automate and optimize operations, especially in customer service and support, has been delivering tangible results for some time, says Chris Brown, president of Intelygenz. he told PYMNTS. He said that a company in the telecommunications industry was able to leverage an AI automatic ticket management solution to successfully deal with an ever-increasing number of customer inquiries.
“The system learns from historical and real-time data and deploys an out-of-the-box AI agent that can manage a wide range of conversations spanning billing, account management, and product returns without human intervention,” he added. .
More information: AI, AI agent, AnswerRocket, artificial intelligence, Atrium, Chris Brown, Gemini, GenAI, generative AI, Google, Intelygenz, Mike Finley, news, Paul Harmon, Project Jarvis, PYMNTS News
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