Intelligent agents can facilitate all these functions by allowing mail handling rules to be specified ahead of time, and letting intelligent agents operate on behalf of the user according to those rules. It is the application area that this thesis will mainly focus on. Both of these are driven and supported by the move to network centric computing. Not only do users in this area need an infrastructure that will allow robust, scaleable sharing of data and computing resources, they also need other functions to help them actually build and manage collaborative teams of people, and manage their work products. In these areas, users need not only to make processes more efficient, but also to reduce the cost of human agents.
Electronic commerce is a growing area fuelled by the popularity of the Internet.
Sellers need to find buyers and they need to provide expert advice about their product or service as well as customer service and support. Intelligent agents can assist in electronic commerce in a number of ways. As capabilities and applications of computers improve, the user interface needs to accommodate the increase in complexity. As user populations grow and diversify, computer interfaces need to learn user habits and preferences and adapt to individuals. Intelligent agent technology allows systems to monitor the user's actions, develop models of user abilities, and automatically help out when problems arise.