Designing Agentive Technology. Christopher Noessel

Drawing a Boundary Around Agentive Technology

       Recap: Agents Are Persistent, Background Assistants

       CHAPTER 3 Agentive Tech Can Change the World

       They Move Us from Moments to Interests

       They’ll Do the Work You’re Not Good At

       They’ll Do the Things We’re Unwilling to Do

       They’ll Do the Embarrassing Things

       They Will Allow Play . . .

       . . . and They Will Encourage Discovery Through Drift

       They Help Achieve Goals with Minimal Effort

       The Scenario Is—a Lifetime

       There May Be an Arms Race of Competing Agents

       It’s Going to Be Big Enough to Affect Our Infrastructure

       Places and Objects Will Need Them

       They Will Help Us Overcome Some Human Foibles

       Using Them, People Will Program the World

       Our Species’ Future May Well Depend on Them

       Recap: Yes, the World

       CHAPTER 4 Six Takeaways from the History of Agentive Thinking

       It’s as Old as Myth

       Yes, Virginia, Computers Can Take Initiative

       Automation Doesn’t Work Like You Think

       It’s About the Feedback

       Agency Is Fluid

       The Agentive/Assistive Line Will Be Blurry

       Recap: On the Agentive Shoulders of Giants

       PART II: DOING

       CHAPTER 5 A Modified Frame for Interaction

       A New See-Think-Do Loop

       Setting Up the Agent

       Seeing What the Agent Is Doing

       Having or Helping the Agent Do Stuff

       Disengaging from the Agent

       Rules and Exceptions, Triggers and Behaviors

       New Technologies to Consider

       Recap: New Tools in Your Backpack

       Agentive Gardening with Mr. McGregor

       CHAPTER 6 Ramping Up with an Agent

       Conveying Capability

       Conveying Limitations

       Getting Goals, Preferences, and Permissions

       Test Driving

       Launch

       Recap: Ramping Up Is Often the Tedious Part

       Agentive Gardening with Mr. McGregor

       CHAPTER 7 Everything Running Smoothly

       Pause and Restart

       Monitoring

       Let Me Play, Anyway

       Notifications

       Recap: Smooth Sailing Is the Easy Part

       Agentive Gardening with Mr. McGregor

       CHAPTER 8 Handling Exceptions

       Where Do These Interfaces Go?

       A Nod to the Looping, Careening Rollercoaster of Trust

       Limited Resources

       Simple Manipulations

       Tuning Triggers

       Tuning Behaviors