From Steam Pigeons to AI Agents: The Changing Face of Automation

It’s 2025, and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution is no longer just anticipation—it’s reality. AI is everywhere, whether you like it or not, and it’s here to stay. AI has evolved to handle tasks beyond what you could have imagined in your wildest dreams. It all feels like it happened too soon, doesn’t it? The buzz around Artificial Intelligence has transformed into a tangible presence in your life before you even had time to process it. But how did we get here? It’s not as recent as you might think. 

The concept of mimicking human intelligence—or replicating human motion through kinematic modeling—dates back to the earliest human civilizations. AI, in some form, has always been part of humanity’s quest to replicate its intelligence and abilities.

One of the earliest recorded findings is of a robotic automation a mechanical pigeon designed to move independently built by Archytas, a scientist and friend of Plato. Yes, we are talking about the 4th century BCE here. Ancient innovations like this laid the groundwork for today’s automation and robotics. It might not be anywhere near the technology we have today, but the concept was more or less the same.

‍We shall be like gods. We shall duplicate God's greatest miracle – the creation of man." - Theophrastus Bombastus, 16th century Swiss Philosopher.   

The Concept of Artificial Humans 

The most interesting thing about AI is that when people first started thinking about automation, it wasn’t about Artificial Intelligence—it was about artificial humans. Between the 1900s and 1950s, a lot of media focused on the idea of creating machines that could act like humans. Whether it was about intelligence or robotics, the goal was simple: to copy what humans can do—or maybe even do it better. What’s really amazing is that this idea of artificial humans existed long before anyone imagined robots or AI.

The modern idea of Artificial Intelligence came from John McCarthy, known as the "Father of AI." He was not just a scientist, he envisioned the concept of cloud computing, decades before it became a reality. He proposed that computing can one day be utilized as a public utility just like water and electricity. 

He first used the term Artificial Intelligence in 1956 when he organized the Dartmouth Conference, which is considered the starting point of AI as a field. Since then, AI has come a long way, but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. AI went through a long period of what we now call the  "AI winters," when progress slowed down because there wasn’t enough technology or expertise to keep things moving. 

The Spotlight on AI: Why Now? 

Now, we’re in what people call the "AI spring," and AI is growing faster than ever. Studies show its power is increasing at an incredible rate—and it’s only just getting started. This growth is happening, thanks to these 3 factors: 

Increased Computational Power ("compute")

Machines have increased computing power. Compute means nothing but the processing power of the machines. According to Moore's Law, the number of components on a single chip doubles every two years at a minimal cost. More than a scientific law or a theory, it’s an observation of the trend of the evolution of technology. How does this help AI? As computer hardware expands exponentially, AI researchers and developers expand their canvas to build complex systems that could meet or compete with the human level of intelligence. 

Availability of Vast Datasets

The more data available to the AI, the more it can learn and improve its pattern recognition capabilities. Large amounts of diverse digital data make it possible for machine learning applications to do what they were designed to do: acquire and perfect a skill. Earlier this was not possible since the data was stored in physical formats and no proper technology was available to digitize them. 

Innovative Algorithms

Algorithms are the step-by-step instructions that a computer follows to perform a particular task. Even though AI systems improve their algorithms to perform better with large and diverse data, AI researchers are trying to train more with less and less data also known as data efficient learning. This is made possible by introducing innovative algorithms, making AI scale at a neckbreak speed. 

Deep Agents: The Next Big Thing in Business AI?

While we are still wrapping our heads around the immense potential of generative AI, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the world of AI has moved beyond it. The next big thing in business automation is AI agents, and industry leaders have already started integrating them into their business models. While AI assistants can be considered the predecessors of AI agents, they are not exactly the same, and the difference is often overlooked.

An AI agent is a goal-driven, autonomous problem-solver capable of handling problems and finding solutions whenever the need arises. Unlike AI assistants who need a lot of guidance, AI agents can handle complex tasks on their own with little to no help. It’s like hiring an expert worker—without needing to interview, train, pay salaries, or manage time off.

These systems are built to adapt. As your business grows and market conditions change, agentic AI evolves too. It scales with your business, making it easier to expand without the usual challenges of traditional processes.

With agentic AI, your business stays flexible, efficient, and ready for the future. Want to learn more about AI agents and assists? Read more

In a Nutshell 

The world of AI is truly fascinating. It feels like technology around us is changing rapidly, with new advancements popping up everywhere. But the idea of creating Artificial Intelligence or artificially stimulating human intelligence and capabilities has been around for a long time. This effort continues, and now, with digital tools and exciting new technologies, AI is growing faster than ever. Therefore, this is the perfect time to embrace AI if you want to stay ahead in your field. More automation means more time for meaningful work.  

To conclude this article, I want to share an interesting research paper published by the University of Oxford. According to the report, with the way AI is advancing, it will soon surpass human abilities and do some tasks better than humans. While this might seem far off, it’s actually happening faster than you might expect.

The following is a quick timeline of some key findings from the report. Do you think the findings are likely to happen? Don’t rush to ChatGPT, scratch your brain and give it a thought!