# Asymmetric Agents > Source: > Published: 2026-08-19 11:34:52+00:00 One of the promises of the AI-filled future is that we'll all have highly capable autonomous ~~servants~~ "agents" to work for us. Even [back in the 1990s](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/02/how-close-are-we-to-a-vision-for-2010/), it was a common trope in future-gazing to insist that a person's personal ~~slave~~ agent would negotiate on their behalf. Ask your ~~meek digital pal~~ agent to find you a restuarant in town, tonight, for a hot date, catering to your dietary preferences, and within your budget. The little ~~butler~~ agent scurries off and, without your intervention, finds the *perfect* place, negotiates with the restaurant's ~~house boy~~ agent and books you a slap up meal. Marvellous! You can tell your ~~manservant~~ agent to buy you clothes, reserve a flight, do the grocery shopping, or buy your wife flowers without having to lift a finger. But, of course, there's a fly in the ointment. Not all ~~valets~~ agents are created equally. You're sending your Rasperry Pi powered ~~peon~~ agent against the full might of Amazons bazillion datacentres. Can a low-complexity ~~serf~~ agent be bullied, outwitted, and manipulated by a more capable ~~henchman~~ agent? It seems obvious to me that the answer is yes. Humans have a set of cognitive biases which render us susceptible to advertising tricks. AI may have [ different biases](https://cacm.acm.org/research/rolling-in-the-deep-of-cognitive-and-ai-biases/) but will still be vulnerable to [hypnosis](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2017/03/how-to-hypnotise-an-artificial-intelligence/)and hacking. Perhaps having my ~~secretary~~ agent negotiate with your ~~PA~~ agent to find a suitable meeting time for our Q2 KPI Deep Dive doesn't carry this sort of risk. But I'm sure that ~~scumbags~~ advertisers everywhere will be salivating at the thought of waylaying my innocent ~~footman~~ agent on its way to market. A future where we delegate responsibility to ~~stochastic imbeciles~~ agents is one where we accept that we have no control over their susceptibility to more powerful and malevolent ~~thugs~~ agents.