Is "An agent with tools" the only valid LLM application?

A Hacker News post questions whether 'an agent with tools' is the only valid LLM application, citing Brex's CEO's stance, and argues for end-to-end workflows that require minimal user feedback, despite acknowledging the need for conversable agents when output accuracy is uncertain.

Brex's CEO said this and I understand where he comes from, but is there a place for end to end workflows in LLM based applications? At the end of the day I agree that cutting edge software should be fully usable by agents, but I can't decide if every product should be an agent. I personally hate the UX of most agentic applications. I have this fantasy of future products where I can simply enter input X and get output Y without having to give feedback on every little thing. Of course when you're designing something it needs to be a process, but what if I can tell my phone to "buy dinner" and it just does it without bothering me at every step? What if it was just good enough? I think a conversable agent is necessary as long as the application is unsure of the accuracy of the output, but I wonder if the UX of LLM applications could be more like a rich person fixing their car, like here is my situation, just do what you need to do and don't bother me. Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49484000 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49484000 Points: 1 Comments: 0