Tool AIs vs. Agent AIs: A Game of Control and Capability

This article questions the effectiveness of limiting AI to purely informational tasks (Tool AIs) to mitigate risks. The author argues this approach is infeasible because Agent AIs, capable of taking actions, possess both economic and intellectual advantages. Agent AIs excel at data selection, learning optimization, self-design, and utilizing external resources, leading to superior intelligence. While reinforcement learning isn't ideal for learning complex things from scratch, it's the best approach for controlling complex systems—and the world is full of them, including AIs. Tool AIs will ultimately be superseded by Agent AIs because the latter better serve market demands and practical applications.