A *(user interface) *(term) for a unit of migratable control that is often dedicated to a specific domain  or class of tasks. Agents are <em>inappropriately</em> also another _(term) for the _(Actor) paradigm of programming, much as "activity" is confused with "computational process". The term "agent" is especially used for actors that are instantiated on or _(migrated|migration) to a remote server (then often called "mobile agents").

From _(Patti Maes)' home page:
<blockquote>
[..] Software Agents are semi-intelligent computer programs which assist a _(user) with the overload of information and the complexity of the online world. _(Maes'|Patti Maes) group pioneered the use of machine learning to build such agents and invented a range of new algorithms such as collaborative filtering. Her team built the first successful prototypes of agents for personalized information filtering, eager assistant agents, agents that buy and sell on behalf of a _(user), matchmaking agents and remembrance agents.

[..]
</blockquote>

<ul class="links">
<li>_(UMBC AgentWeb| http://agents.umbc.edu/): information, resources newsletters and mailing lists relating to intelligent information agents, intentional agents, software agents, softbots, knowbots, infobots, etc.
<li>The _(Intelligent Software Agents Lab| http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~softagents/index.htm) at CMU.
<li>The _(Software Agents group| http://agents.media.mit.edu/index.html) at the MIT Media Laboratory, founded and directed by _(Patti Maes). An interesting _(publication|http://agents.media.mit.edu/publications/) that clarifies the meaning of the _(term):
<br><em>What's an Agent, Anyway? A Sociological Case Study</em>, white paper. _(Lenny Foner| http://foner.www.media.mit.edu/people/foner/). _("(HTML)"| http://foner.www.media.mit.edu/people/foner/Julia/Julia.html) _("(PostScript)"| http://foner.www.media.mit.edu/people/foner/Reports/Julia/Agents--Julia.ps) _("(PDF)"| http://foner.www.media.mit.edu/people/foner/Reports/Julia/Agents--Julia.pdf).
<li>The book _("Software Agents"|http://www.aaai.org/Press/Books/Bradshaw/bradshaw.html), edited by Jeffrey Bradshaw, AAAI Press. Its essays often confuse a computational or logical model (_(Actor)) with a _(user interface) concept.
</ul>