Advances in semiconductor nano-fabrication technologies have enabled the creation of next-generation mobile devices that are sensory-rich, communication-convergence platforms at the edge of the internet. These highly sophisticated handheld devices are equipped with increasing computational capabilities, ultra-low-power acceleration for AI processing, ultra-high-resolution imaging and video sensors, and secure elements for trusted sensor fusion, and are naturally always-on and always-connected. The fusion of a constellation of these devices supporting real-time predictive and prescriptive analyses of users and their dynamic environment will ultimately change the future of work and enable a modern era that empowers smarter, safer, healthier, and more productive human lives.
In order to realize the full potential of these devices, there is an urgent need to develop next-generation agentic AI and the required alignment technologies, including intrinsic motivation-driven learning, impact-driven perception-to-action systems, complex data and knowledge engineering for human-structured worlds, and trustable interactive intelligent behavior and social exchanges. These alignment technologies will enable the cognitive and physical automation stacks to architect these devices and larger scale intelligent edge environments that truly comprehend and seamlessly integrate the understanding of users and their real-world interaction contexts, the rich and dynamic semantics embedded in users' goals, intentions, and needs, and the importance of human agency and safety in any real-time autonomous task-preparation and task-execution process. In this chapter, we will present a thesis to develop the underlying tenets and architecture of agentic AI and their necessary technologies through a set of carefully curated thinkers and practitioners' perspectives on this challenge in a workshop format