What Rules AI Agents

Tell me what you buy, and I’ll tell you who you are. Agentic commerce could proceed from that premise. AI agents are increasingly acting on behalf of consumers, with agentic commerce projected to reach trillions by 2030. This shift raises concerns, particularly in one sector that may not be the first to come to mind, beauty and fashion. Optimized to learn from what we desire, what we can afford, what we fear missing, AI agents in commerce are machines built to understand who we aspire to become. There, they may end up shaping who “we” become, unequally across genders, but always at the same point of vulnerability, our agency. Trias Algorithmica aims to prevent agentic algorithmic systems from turning delegation into the gradual absorption of human will. They may be wrapped in the soothing language of “shopping assistants.” They exercise power. Economic power, exercised algorithmically. To what extent do we remain the ones who define the agent’s goals and mandate, determine how they may be executed, retain the capacity to contest its actions, and decide where responsibility for failure lies. That is human agency, not the agent’s.

Check out the full article on Forbes