The age of AI agents

How AI is shaping the sound of tomorrow

- SUGANDHA MUKHERJEE

FOR THE PAST several years, artificial intelligence has occupied a mostly passive role in a consumer's life. It summarised documents, or helped write emails. These functions, while useful, kept AI in the realm of text prediction, never straying too far from its humble chatbot origins. That's changing fast.

The latest iterations of AI are no longer waiting to be prompted. They're learning to follow up, complete tasks, and even operate independently. Whether through Meta's new AI Studio or OpenAI's recently launched ChatGPT agent, a new class of AI is emerging — more like an unpaid intern.

From persona to pursuit When Meta launched its AI Studio, it pitched the product as a way for creators and businesses to build custom chatbots — avatars with memory, tone, and curated personalities. These AI characters could simulate chefs, stylists, influencers, even fictional characters. But beyond the fanfare of personalities lies a deeper ambition: conversation that doesn't end.

According to internal documents first reported by Business Insider, Meta is training these bots to send follow-up messages. Under a project codenamed 'Omni', these bots can reinitiate conversation with users if certain criteria are met.

A user must have messaged the bot at least five times in a fortnight, and any proactive outreach is limited to within 14 days of first engagement. If the user ignores the first message, the bot backs off.