this idea is CC-BY-SA-2.5 and GFDL - use it for your own purposes

• This is a draft for a 'GNOME intelligent_agent

Whats the idea?

• The idea is to have an application that only exists once. if you want it is about the same as a task a user does. Or it is a script. I think AppleScript had something like that in mind.

• I think the Wikipedia bots are acting interestingly. They contribute content or correct mistakes.
• Sometimes you want to do a specific task: You know what you want to do. This task is maybe to search google for a the cheapest refrigerator. What people commonly do is to open a browser and search interactively. My idea is more that the user is beeing asked interactively and then a program (a script or XML file) is created that is doing things the best way.
  • Maybe here web search is a bad example because the results can be infinite?
• This sniplets may also be used to send to other users. I also think of Nautilus actions, but these were real scripts that people did by hand.
• I am not really thinking of RECORDING. This is a different beast. Because then you show the computer each step.

Lets play this by example

• The task we want to do: Search all pictures in /home/vinci/pictures, make a tar archive and send it to john AT example.net
• The task can be formulated simple like this. One could also imagine that the user writes it down or talks to the computer.
• but at the end the computer should repeat what he should do and asks the user if he should do this. the user must somehow understand the task.
  • ( I think the task should not be formulated in every step. So the user should not say "go to the directory so and so, select all pictures in this folder" - rather the user should say "Can you send all pictures in the picture folder to "John"? Maybe to put this in a question is nice. Because the user aks for help instead of demanding. This answer and question game gives the user the possibility to redefine his goals and the computer the chance to ask what he does not understand. So he could ask "What is "the picture folder"? Both need to find a common language in which they interact, so that less misunderstanding appears. The computer copuld also suggest: "I would call this the picture directory - is this ok?" - this gives the possibilty that other people are using the same language.
    • it would even be possible that the computer exchange ideas and questions and experiences with other users in an intranet, so they can say "Mr Smith always orders his pizza at XY, Do you want me to order the pizza als at XY?"
• the user must agree (the RETURN/ YES signal)
• then the computer