Agent

An agent performs a specific task on behalf of another.  An agent could be a person or a thing such as a machine that takes an active role or produces a specified effect.

A computer program that acts for a user or other program or platform in a relationship of agency to perform some action is an agent, a software agent.

An agent is an entity capable of sensing the state of its environment and acting upon it based on a set of specified rules and perhaps a model. Remember that an agent performs specific tasks on behalf of another in order to achieve some agreed upon goal established by the principal that employs the agent and the agent which will act in behalf of the principle.

A computer software agent could have intelligence, could understand machine readable knowledge for some area of knowledge represented using some knowledge representation approach, might have the capabilities to process logic, might be able to understand a model, and might otherwise be able to amplify the intelligence of a human in order to complete some task within some workflow or otherwise augment the capabilities of humans.

The main difference between a software agent and an ordinary software program is that a software agent is autonomous; that is, it must operate without direct intervention of humans or others. Intelligent software agents are engineered using specific principles.

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