Intelligent agents on the Internet and Web

An intelligent agent (IA) is a self-contained, autonomous software module that could perform certain tasks on behalf of its users. It could also interact with other intelligent agents and/or human in performing its task(s). There is now growing interest in using intelligent software agents for a variety of tasks in a diverse range of applications: personal assistants, intelligent user interfaces, managing electronic mail, navigating and retrieving information from the Internet and databases, scheduling meetings and manufacturing operations, electronic business, online shopping, negotiating for resources, decision making, design and telecommunications. The paper gives a brief introduction to intelligent agents and their classification, outlines applications of intelligent agents on the Internet and Web and highlights their prospects.