AI Agents 101 | The Agentic Web Explained

An episode of the Thinking On Paper podcast, hosted by Mark Fielding and Jeremy Gilbertson, titled "AI Agents 101 | The Agentic Web Explained" was published on November 15, 2025 and runs 6 minutes.

November 15, 2025 ·6m · Thinking On Paper

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Summary

AI agents can read feeds, make decisions, coordinate with other agents, and speak on your behalf—without you in the loop.Andrew Hill explains what agents actually are, why every company is racing to build them, and how close we are to personal agents that manage schedules, explain our thinking, and negotiate with other people's agents.We talk about:- What an AI agent actually is (beyond chatbots)- Why agents coordinate with each other (multi-agent systems)- How personal agents could represent you online- What happens when your agent negotiates with someone else's agent- Why people already share intimate details with AI (and what that means)- The hard question: Could AI become better relationship partners than humans?The shift that's already happening: People tell AI things they won't tell friends. They trust agents with calendars, emails, thoughts. The AI knows them better than anyone.So if agents represent us online—if they speak for us, decide for us, negotiate for us—who are we really talking to anymore?This gets into trust, privacy, and what changes when the agentic web replaces direct human interaction.If your agent knows you better than your partner does, what does that make it?---Guest: Andrew HillTopics: AI agents, agentic web, multi-agent systems, personal AI, trust, privacy, human-AI relationships, coordination--Other ways to connect with us:⁠Listen to every podcast⁠Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠Follow us on ⁠X⁠Follow Mark on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Follow Jeremy on ⁠LinkedIn⁠Read our ⁠Substack⁠Email: [email protected]

Episode Description

AI agents can read feeds, make decisions, coordinate with other agents, and speak on your behalf—without you in the loop.

Andrew Hill explains what agents actually are, why every company is racing to build them, and how close we are to personal agents that manage schedules, explain our thinking, and negotiate with other people's agents.

We talk about:

- What an AI agent actually is (beyond chatbots)

- Why agents coordinate with each other (multi-agent systems)

- How personal agents could represent you online

- What happens when your agent negotiates with someone else's agent

- Why people already share intimate details with AI (and what that means)

- The hard question: Could AI become better relationship partners than humans?

The shift that's already happening: People tell AI things they won't tell friends. They trust agents with calendars, emails, thoughts. The AI knows them better than anyone.

So if agents represent us online—if they speak for us, decide for us, negotiate for us—who are we really talking to anymore?

This gets into trust, privacy, and what changes when the agentic web replaces direct human interaction.

If your agent knows you better than your partner does, what does that make it?

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Guest: Andrew Hill

Topics: AI agents, agentic web, multi-agent systems, personal AI, trust, privacy, human-AI relationships, coordination

Other ways to connect with us: