arXiv:2509.10875cs.AIcond-mat.soft2025-09

挑战智能系统中的'代理'范式,提出应转向更系统的非代理框架。

Is the `Agent' Paradigm a Limiting Framework for Next-Generation Intelligent Systems?

  • 区分三类系统:代理型、具身型与非代理型,揭示代理概念的模糊性。
  • 指出大模型常被误认为有自主性,实则依赖系统动态而非真正目标导向。
  • 倡导以复杂系统和物质智能为灵感,探索非人类中心的通用智能新路径。

代理概念深刻影响了人工智能研究,从基础理论到基于大语言模型(LLM)的系统应用。本文批判性重审该以代理为中心的范式的必要性与最优性。我们指出其概念模糊性和固有的拟人化偏见可能构成局限。文中区分了三类系统:代理型系统(受代理启发,半自主,如基于LLM的代理)、具身型系统(完全自主、自我生成,目前仅存在于生物体中)与非代理型系统(无代理感的工具)。基于对相关文献的系统综述,本文在多种AI框架中解构了代理范式,凸显了自主性与目标导向性等属性定义与度量的困难。我们认为,将许多AI系统描述为‘代理’虽具启发性,但可能误导,掩盖底层计算机制,尤其在大语言模型中表现明显。为此,我们主张转向以系统级动态、世界建模和物质智能为基础的新框架。结论认为,探索非代理与系统性框架,借鉴复杂系统、生物学及非常规计算,对发展稳健、可扩展且非拟人化的通用智能至关重要。这不仅需要新架构,还需根本性重新思考智能的本质,超越代理隐喻。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

The concept of the 'agent' has profoundly shaped Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, guiding development from foundational theories to contemporary applications like Large Language Model (LLM)-based systems. This paper critically re-evaluates the necessity and optimality of this agent-centric paradigm. We argue that its persistent conceptual ambiguities and inherent anthropocentric biases may represent a limiting framework. We distinguish between agentic systems (AI inspired by agency, often semi-autonomous, e.g., LLM-based agents), agential systems (fully autonomous, self-producing systems, currently only biological), and non-agentic systems (tools without the impression of agency). Our analysis, based on a systematic review of relevant literature, deconstructs the agent paradigm across various AI frameworks, highlighting challenges in defining and measuring properties like autonomy and goal-directedness. We argue that the 'agentic' framing of many AI systems, while heuristically useful, can be misleading and may obscure the underlying computational mechanisms, particularly in Large Language Models (LLMs). As an alternative, we propose a shift in focus towards frameworks grounded in system-level dynamics, world modeling, and material intelligence. We conclude that investigating non-agentic and systemic frameworks, inspired by complex systems, biology, and unconventional computing, is essential for advancing towards robust, scalable, and potentially non-anthropomorphic forms of general intelligence. This requires not only new architectures but also a fundamental reconsideration of our understanding of intelligence itself, moving beyond the agent metaphor.

智能范式大模型系统思维

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