The article argues against the development of fully autonomous AI agents, highlighting the ethical risks and safety concerns associated with increased autonomy. It discusses the historical context, current landscape, and varying levels of AI agent autonomy, emphasizing the need for semi-autonomous systems with human oversight.
The article proposes a scale of AI agent autonomy, ranging from systems with minimal autonomy to fully autonomous agents:
Low Autonomy:
- Minimal impact on program flow.
- Requires significant human input for actions.
- Executes basic functions as directed by users.
Moderate Autonomy:
- More control over basic program flow.
- Can determine execution of functions.
- Handles multi-step processes with human oversight.
High Autonomy:
- Controls iteration and program continuation.
- Makes decisions on function execution and timing.
- Operates independently with some human oversight.
Full Autonomy:
- Creates and executes new code without constraints.
- Operates independently.
- Raises ethical and safety concerns due to potential override of human control.
