Matt Locke, inspired by Natalie Jeremijenko, looks at subverting our notions of what an intelligent agent might be:
“Constantly trying to make sense out of an incomplete picture, the private eye is an imperfect avatar, always a few clues short of the whole story. In the classic gum shoe novels of Raymond Chandler, this anti hero is always getting in the way rather than getting to the truth, getting implemented in the crime and led down dark alleys. How much more interesting are these double agents compared to the dumb shiny world of the intelligent agents? The double agent recognises that intelligence can never be perfect, and those who hold intelligence cast a malign, powerful shadow. After all, even the best, most discrete butler always keeps a few too many of his master’s secrets.”
clearly, it’s in Matt’s genes:
http://web.archive.org/web/19980124163329/www.ucl.ac.uk/SLAIS/agents.htm