The Agentic Loop: Three loops in a trench coat

(bobbytables.io)

38 points | by btables 4 hours ago

5 comments

  • tptacek 9 minutes ago
    You can always find more loops if you want to write the next version of this post. Anything that runs software is a loop of instruction execution.
  • swyx 1 hour ago
    • jamestimmins 58 minutes ago
      The issue I have with loops is that for truly complex work, where I care about building a generalized solution for a complex problem, the agents frequently reward hack and end up burning indefinitely without finishing until I step in.

      Curious how you're addressing this

    • btables 57 minutes ago
      Totally. Earth's rotation is a loop too. We should count that.
      • ratelimitsteve 32 minutes ago
        rotation and orbit, and technically the eccentricity in the axis as well
  • philipwhiuk 3 hours ago
    Aren't the loops the wrong way round in the diagram. The tightest loop is the inference loop, then the tool loop and then human loop?
    • btables 3 hours ago
      I think of them from the outside in, so that's why I illustrated it that way.
      • NitpickLawyer 34 minutes ago
        Fascinating. I think it's the first time I've heard it put that way.

        For me it's more intuitive the other way around, as the "outer" loops increase in complexity (and can have additional separate loops running inside them). It also makes sense because you can always add more (meta) loops that way.

      • huflungdung 2 hours ago
        [dead]
    • DonHopkins 2 hours ago
      You are absolutely correct. It's an i18n/l10n issue. They spin in the opposite direction in the other hemisphere.
  • draw_down 1 hour ago
    [dead]