Microsoft pitches AI ‘agents’ that can perform tasks on their own at Ignite 2024

CHICAGO (AP) — Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told customers at a conference in Chicago on Tuesday that the company is teaching a new set of artificial intelligence tools how to “act on our behalf across our work and life.” AI developers are increasingly pitching the next wave of generative AI chatbots as AI ‘agents’ that can do more useful things on people’s behalf. But the cost of building and running AI tools is so high that more investors are questioning whether the technology’s promise is overblown. Microsoft said last month that it’s preparing for a world in which “every organization will have a constellation of agents — ranging from simple prompt-and-response to fully autonomous.”