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Original · left

Agent (person)

A real estate broker, talent representative, or covert intelligence operative.

First in use: the 1400s
Duplicate · right

AI agent

An autonomous software system designed to perceive its digital environment, reason, invoke tools, and complete sequential goals.

First in use: the 1990s

Agent / Agent (person) / AI agent

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Spies and brokers vs. software that takes actions.

Which meaning of Agent is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Agent (person) came first (the 1400s). AI agent arrived in the 1990s. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Agent (person)AI agent
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1400s

Agent (person)

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Duplicate · the 1990s

AI agent

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More duplicated terms

AI & machine learning