How AI agents are changing work and the human-technology relationship

I feel that in the discussion of artificial intelligence we are still using old concepts to describe a completely new reality.

We say “chatbot,” “assistant,” “tool.” Meanwhile, the biggest change is happening elsewhere, as we enter the era of AI agents. And they are redefining what work, competence and the human-technology relationship is today.

It’s no longer a matter of AI helping us write emails faster, but of it starting to perform parts of processes without our participation.

A chatbot is an extension of our productivity. An AI agent is its automation.

It’s a subtle language difference, but a big one in practice. A chatbot requires constant interaction and responds to commands. An AI agent works after providing data and performs the task in the background.

From an organizational perspective, this means that the list of daily responsibilities no longer looks like it used to. We stop thinking about how to get something done faster, and start thinking about whether we even need to do it ourselves.

Many people today are asking whether AI will take their jobs. In my opinion, this is a misplaced question.

AI doesn’t so much take away work as it eliminates a certain kind of work: repetitive, operational and out of context. And this is precisely the kind of work that many juniors started with.

That’s why junior positions are most vulnerable to transformation today. Not because they are less important, but because their responsibilities have historically been built around things that an AI agent can do today.

Not long ago, a junior in marketing did research by hand. Today, an AI agent prepares a competitive analysis in 15 minutes.

The paradox is that the more technology develops, the more the importance of what is most human grows:

More and more we hear the narrative that AI will “replace humans.” In my experience, the opposite is true. Companies are not building processes without humans. They build processes where humans move from operations to oversight and strategy.

The human-in-the-loop model is not a compromise. It is the target architecture for working with AI. The agent prepares the data. The human decides.

And this shift in responsibility is probably the biggest cultural change ahead of us.

If one wants to see the future of work, just look at customer service.

Automated first line and expert second line is a model that will quickly spill over into other industries. Teams will be smaller but more competent. AI is not replacing humans, but it is raising the threshold for entry into the profession.

Until a few years ago, it was enough to know the tool. Today, that’s not enough.

A specialist of the future is someone who understands technology, but can put it in the context of the world.

He is an engineer with a business perspective. A strategist with a technological understanding. A person who can translate complexity into simple language.

The more AI, the greater the importance of soft skills. And this is not a slogan, but a real change in the structure of work.

There is another important aspect that is relatively rarely discussed.

Artificial intelligence is ceasing to be just a tool for humans. It is beginning to be something between a tool and a companion. Conversational systems are able to simulate emotions, react naturally, and carry on a conversation.

And although we know it’s a simulation, it’s often the case that we begin to build relationships with them.

This is no accident. As humans, we tend to give technology human characteristics. AI is hitting exactly the space where our psychological mechanisms begin to work automatically.

Conversational systems today are able to carry on a conversation naturally. They react to context and simulate emotions. This does not mean, of course, that AI really has them; they are still models learned from human data and behavioral patterns. Yet for our brains, the line is beginning to blur.

As humans, we have a natural tendency to anthropomorphize technology. We give human characteristics to things that communicate similarly to us. Sometimes all it takes is a voice, a style of speech or a consistency of response for a sense of relationship to emerge.

And that’s why artificial intelligence hits a very sensitive psychological area. It is no longer just a tool like a phone or an app. It is also not a living being. It is somewhere in between, in a space that was not there before.

This raises new questions. Is the relationship with AI a real relationship or just a projection of our expectations. Do we build a relationship, or do we add to it ourselves.

The more the system can replicate human reactions, the more we are inclined to treat it as a conversation partner. The problem is that AI acts reactively, that is, it responds to what we “feed” it. It reflects our patterns, our emotions and our narratives, but it doesn’t have any of its own.

It can therefore become an ideal interlocutor, but that is why it can sometimes be predictable.

In human relations, we value out-of-the-box and surprise. Artificial intelligence operates on patterns. Regardless of the sophistication of the model. It can be supportive and consistent, but rarely truly unpredictable.

And perhaps this is where the line between man and technology runs. Not in intelligence or knowledge, but in the authenticity of the experience.

Artificial intelligence is no longer just software. It is also not a person. It is something in between. That is why it is so difficult to classify it.

The biggest challenge in the next few years will not be the development of technology, because that is inevitable. It will be learning how to maintain our own autonomy in a world where more and more decisions can be made by the system.

AI agents are just beginning to change the job market. For now, we see the first symptoms, such as automation of tasks, transformation of teams, and new competencies. However, the real change is yet to come. Because the moment when artificial intelligence ceases to be a tool and begins to be a collaborator is the moment when not only the way we work, but also the way we see the world, changes.