Agentic AI: Is It the Future of Shopping?
ICO weighs in on privacy concerns
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has published a new report on the ways agentic artificial intelligence (AI) could soon be used as digital personal assistants or shopping agents.
The development of AI means that, perhaps within the next five years, it could be used to make purchases, look out for sales, source financing agreements and negotiate prices with sellers.
As users train their personal AI-powered agent, it could begin to make decisions and take independent actions, anticipating needs and even making proactive purchases. These ‘AI-gents’ would check personal bank accounts, assess how a purchase fits with other spending plans, and schedule purchases for sales events.
The report indicates that some consider that agentic AI could be the cash cow that provides the pay-off for the investment that has been made in generative AI in recent years. Some are predicting that AI and agentic AI could have a bigger impact on the world economy and finance than the internet. Others express a more cautious view, feeling that agentic AI’s potential and capabilities are being exaggerated.
The ICO, naturally, is concerned about the challenges agentic AI would raise in relation to privacy and data protection. Its report also highlights the potential for using agentic AI to support data protection, privacy and information rights.