Every Software as an Agent [Paper Unfold]

Paper Unfold breakdown of complex research papers into easy-to-understand pointers.

Imagine you have a super-smart assistant inside your computer.

Instead of clicking buttons or writing code, you just tell it what to do—like "make this text bold" or "play my favorite song"—and it happens instantly.

This research introduces a new way to make that possible by letting AI read and control software from the inside.

Here is the research paper.

Let’s dive in.

What problem does it solve?

Software agents today struggle with handling user commands effectively.

• api-based agents need developers to define functions in advance, making them rigid and not suitable for unexpected tasks.

• gui-based agents can work with any task but often fail because they make too many small mistakes in multi-step processes.

• these methods assume large language models cannot see inside the software they control, limiting their ability.

The paper introduces a new way to let LLMs access a software’s source code and runtime, allowing them to generate and inject code directly.

How does it work?

The method is called jit-codegen (just-in-time code generation) and involves two main parts:

• code agent 
  It reads the software’s code, documentation, and runtime environment. it then generates small pieces of code to perform tasks based on user instructions.

• execution sandbox 
  It runs this generated code inside the software in real-time.

The code agent and sandbox communicate back and forth.

The sandbox provides feedback so the agent can refine its code.

• this allows the agent to interact directly with software functions, databases, and user interface elements.

Use Cases

The paper tested this approach on two open-source desktop applications

1. for the markdown editor, the agent successfully:

• opened a new tab

• closed all other tabs

• made text bold

• changed font sizes

• copied content from one tab to another

2. for the music player, the agent successfully:

• showed favorite songs

• displayed listening history

• searched for songs

• increased volume

• played the next song

the system can even handle tasks without a GUI,

such as answering "Where is my next appointment?"

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