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You may have heard about AI agents but apart from being a tech buzzword what actually are they and can they act autonomously? In this blog, we explain.
If you have been keeping even half an eye on tech industry news recently, chances are you’ve heard of AI agents. This type of AI automates all kinds of tasks to make both your personal and professional life easier. However, while the term gets mentioned frequently in the news, like many things in the world of AI, its meaning can vary depending on who you are speaking to. As experts in automated AI testing, we are here to clear things up. So if you’ve been reading the tech news and caught yourself wondering, "What are AI agents?" then you’ve come to the right place.
Let’s start with the obvious: what exactly are AI agents? You have probably heard of terms like ‘agentic AI’ or ‘autonomous AI’, but how do AI agents fit into the picture? Are they super intelligent, self-thinking robots straight out of a sci-fi movie? Not quite.
AI agents are goal-driven tools designed to autonomously complete specific tasks all within a defined scope. They interact with their environment and pre-trained data to execute predetermined goals, but they are not independent thinkers. Humans set their objectives and then the AI agents take action.
This differs slightly from agentic AI, which refers to a more advanced form of AI capable of making self-determined decisions with minimal human intervention. For example, self-driving cars are considered agentic AI because they can assess their surroundings and make decisions in real time.
AI agents, by contrast, excel in environments that are more structured and predictable. They’re ideal for completing repetitive tasks efficiently within closed systems with humans there to prompt them.
Want to find out more about agentic AI and AI agents? Then read our blogs on what agentic AI is and agentic AI vs. AI agents which go into more detail on the subjects.
The most obvious examples of AI agents is, of course, generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, GitHub Copilot, and of course, the new Chinese AI app DeepSeek that is all over the news, to name a few. These all use AI agents in some capacity to perform tasks prompted by humans.
But what many people are excited about is the move towards agentic AI, with agents that have more autonony.
Imagine an AI agent that can analyze the food in your fridge, identify you are low on milk, and automatically order the item to be delivered in your next online grocery shop.
A few years ago, this would have seemed a far-off notion, but with agentic AI and intelligent agents, it’s now starting to become a reality.
You can find out more about Generative AI vs Agentic AI in another one of our posts.
So how does Virtuoso fit into all of this?
At Virtuoso QA, we are at the forefront of AI technology, driving innovation by making software testing faster, smarter, and easier through our automated AI testing tools. While AI agents aren’t part of our tool kit just yet, we are extremely close to implementing them - so watch this space.
We might not have AI agents at our disposal right now, but what we do have is some super impressive AI capabilities that will revolutionize the way you test.
Say goodbye to tedious test maintenance with our intuitive self-healing and continuous testing. Our AI-powered platform allows you to run more tests with greater accuracy. And you don’t even have to be a world-class coder to do so. Our low-code/no-code test automation with plain English commands allows even the most technophobic of team members to author and execute accurate tests at scale.
So, now you are better acquainted with our AI-powered features, what's next in the world of AI?
2025 is already being dubbed the year of AI Agents with Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI, predicting that this year will see the first AI agents ‘joining the workforce’. However, like with all predictions, particularly those regarding AI, the proof is in the pudding.
At Virtuoso QA, we predict that in the next few years, there will be a conscious move to multi-agent ecosystems. AI agents will work together across different platforms and systems to complete highly complex tasks that require multiple stages, with zero input from humans.
While this may sound scary for some, it shouldn’t be. Just like transitioning from floppy disks and hard drives to cloud storage, which allows us to access files and information across systems, multi-agent systems will operate in a similar way.
They will allow us to combine different AI technologies together and automate tasks across a range of different processes. For example, right now you can prompt ChatGPT to give you a list of countries to visit for your next holiday. But with multi-agent systems, it would mean that, in theory, ChatGPT could work together with other AI agents to not only suggest travel destinations but also research and book your entire holiday, all through only one human interaction at the start.
Simply put, AI agents will make tasks quicker and easier by reducing the need for human intervention or oversight at each stage of the process. The benefits of this are, as with all AI, less time spent on repetitive tasks and more time for us humans to focus on the bigger picture.
Curious to find out more about our AI-powered software testing? Then book a demo now and see Virtuoso in action.
