What's next for AI agents ft. LangChain's Harrison Chase


SUMMARY

Harrison Chase discusses AI agents, developer framework Lang chain, and the future of generative AI orchestration platforms at a tech event.

IDEAS:

  • Harrison Chase met at last year’s event, sparking interest in this year’s return.
  • Lang chain is widely used among attendees, suggesting its popularity.
  • Lang chain leads in generative AI orchestration, indicating industry impact.
  • Developers focus on making AI agents production-ready and real-world applicable.
  • AI agents interact with the world using language models in various forms.
  • Simple AI agent operation involves iterative language model consultation.
  • Planning, user experience, and memory are key areas for AI agent development.
  • Language models need external prompting for reliable planning and execution.
  • Flow engineering optimizes performance through design rather than model improvements.
  • UX design for agent applications remains an unsolved challenge.
  • Human-in-the-loop necessary for reliability but seeks balance with autonomy.
  • Rewind and edit features enhance UX by allowing informed decision corrections.
  • Memory in AI agents enables learning from interactions and style preferences.
  • Procedural memory helps agents remember correct processes for tasks.
  • Personalized memory makes user experiences more tailored and engaging.
  • Journaling app example shows potential for personalized AI memory use.
  • Future agents will likely incorporate both procedural and personalized memory.
  • Questions about whether planning prompts are short-term hacks or long-term needs.
  • The role of cognitive architectures in future model APIs is uncertain.
  • The importance of human engineers in planning AI agent workflows is highlighted.

INSIGHTS:

  • Meeting innovators like Harrison Chase inspires return visits to tech events.
  • Lang chain’s popularity reflects a significant trend in developer preferences.
  • Real-world application of AI agents is a primary focus for developers.
  • Effective AI agent operation requires a balance between autonomy and guidance.
  • Planning strategies may evolve from developer hacks to integrated model features.
  • UX design is crucial for the practicality and adoption of AI agents.
  • Memory functions in AI agents are moving towards more personalized interactions.
  • The future of AI agents hinges on their ability to learn and adapt.

QUOTES:

  • “I’m delighted to introduce Harrison Chase."
  • "Lang chain is by far the leading generative AI orchestration platform."
  • "Developers spending a lot of time in making this idea of an agent production ready."
  • "Running an LLM in a for Loop… you ask it what to do again."
  • "Planning, user experience, and memory are key areas for AI agent development."
  • "Language models aren’t really good enough to do that reliably."
  • "Flow engineering achieves state-of-the-art coding performance."
  • "Human in the loop is still necessary because they’re not super reliable."
  • "Rewind and edit ability… is a really powerful UX."
  • "Memory of Agents… teaching it what to do and correcting it."
  • "Procedural memory so it’s remembering the correct way to do something."
  • "Personalized memory… remembering facts about a human."
  • "Bringing in these personalized aspects will be important for the next generation of Agents.”

HABITS:

  • Attending annual tech events to meet and learn from industry innovators.
  • Using popular developer frameworks like Lang chain for building applications.
  • Continuously exploring new areas of AI agent development for improvement.
  • Implementing iterative loops in language model interactions for task execution.
  • Incorporating planning and reflection steps to enhance language model performance.
  • Balancing human oversight with agent autonomy in user experience design.
  • Integrating rewind and edit features to improve agent decision-making processes.
  • Teaching AI agents through natural language corrections to refine outputs.
  • Utilizing thumbs up signals to reinforce correct agent behavior and learning.
  • Experimenting with journaling apps to develop personalized memory in agents.

FACTS:

  • Harrison Chase was met at last year’s tech event, prompting this year’s attendance.
  • Lang chain is a leading generative AI orchestration platform among developers.
  • AI agents are commonly built using the developer framework Lang chain.
  • Language models require external prompts for effective planning and execution.
  • Flow engineering contributed to Alpha codium’s state-of-the-art coding performance.
  • Rewind and edit features are recent UX innovations in agent applications.
  • Memory allows AI agents to remember styles and preferences from interactions.
  • Procedural memory enables agents to recall the correct process for tasks.
  • Personalized memory helps tailor experiences based on individual user facts.

REFERENCES:

RECOMMENDATIONS:

  • Attend tech events annually to network with industry leaders like Harrison Chase.
  • Use Lang chain for developing generative AI applications effectively.
  • Focus on planning, UX, and memory when building AI agents.
  • Consider human-in-the-loop as necessary for reliable agent operations.
  • Explore rewind and edit UX features for better agent interactions.
  • Teach AI agents using natural language corrections for improved learning.
  • Develop agents with procedural memory for task-specific process retention.
  • Integrate personalized memory into agents for enhanced user experiences.