The Impact of AI Agents and No-Code Software Development on Digital Economy Innovation

As of now, at least 200 million people around the world have used large AI models. But people no longer simply sit in front of computers and chat with AI; instead, they are developing tools that can automatically prompt an AI to complete tasks as needed. When these automatic prompts are combined with large language models, AI agents are born.

In April 2023, OpenAI co-founder Brokerman demonstrated GPT’s “autopilot” mode in a live demonstration. In this demonstration, the AI agent essentially handled all aspects of a dinner party: generating a recommended menu and an invitation letter with images, adding the ingredients for the menu to their shopping cart on a grocery e-commerce platform, and automatically posting about the dinner event on social media.

AI agents can also automatically create websites based on vague prompts, complete various word and spreadsheet processing tasks that require the use of Office software, even generate summaries and analysis papers based on existing literature data.

Recently, Bill Gates wrote a long article to interpret the future of AI agents, stating that they will fundamentally change how people interact with computers, bringing about one of the most significant innovations in human-computer interaction since the invention of keyboards, screens, and mice.

AI is seen as an extension tool for enhancing humans’ information collection, analysis, and processing capabilities. It allows people to work at a higher level. However, AI agents also pose challenges to many existing job positions because companies may hire fewer people to complete the same tasks. This destruction of the current economic structure caused by innovation is what economist Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction.” As AI agents replace numerous tasks that only require relatively low levels of computer skills, these unemployed workers will have no choice but to adapt to new labor market demands, which is bound to be a long and painful process.

Although generative AI may displace a batch of traditional digital jobs, at the same time it opens up new opportunities – this is “no-code software development.” Currently, programming assistance tools based on large language models have reached a new stage where they can generate code for software or websites according to very vague prompts given by users. For example, in the GPT-4 demonstration held in 2023, the presenter simply drew an illegible sketch of a structure on A4 paper and GPT-4 generated a working webpage based on it automatically. This undoubtedly reduces the threshold for providing IT services. As long as someone has enough creative ideas to meet people’s digital service needs, they can become the forefront of internet innovation, and “every one can innovate” era is here.

Although generative AI may displace a batch of traditional digital jobs, at the same time it opens up new opportunities – this is “no-code software development.” Currently, programming assistance tools based on large language models have reached a new stage where they can generate code for software or websites according to very vague prompts given by users. For example, in the GPT-4 demonstration held in 2023, the presenter simply drew an illegible sketch of a structure on A4 paper and GPT-4 generated a working webpage based on it automatically. This undoubtedly reduces the threshold for providing IT services. As long as someone has enough creative ideas to meet people’s digital service needs, they can become the forefront of internet innovation, and “every one can innovate” era is here.

looking forward to 2024, whether it is the iterative development of artificial intelligence technology itself or its reshaping of data value and application in various industries and sectors, the influence of artificial intelligence can be seen everywhere. It empowers research, innovation, and economy while also bringing new challenges and risks. We should adopt an open attitude towards the numerous changes brought about by artificial intelligence and conduct prudent research on and respond to the potential new topics and risks it may bring.