At a recent Plants4Space meetup, where I presented Intelligent Digital Twins and Multi-Agent Generative Systems (MAGS), I received a thought-provoking question.

Instead of the typical“Will agents take my job?” the question was, “Will we lose essential skills as agents begin automating tasks humans used to perform?”

This question goes to the heart of the ongoing technological transformation. It’s a valid concern, especially as we move from automation to autonomous agency, where systems like MAGSwill take on increasingly complex tasks.

These systems don’t just automate—they observe, reflect, plan, and act, opening up new questions about the future of human skills.

Here’s how I answered, using an analogy from agriculture, a sector that has undergone a series of technological transformations over the past century (and it was topical for the meetup).

The Agriculture Analogy: From Oxen to Autonomous Agents

Agriculture was one of the first industries to undergo massive transformation through mechanization. Farmers 150 years ago worked behind oxen and single-blade plows, relying on physical skills and experience to efficiently work the land. The more experienced the farmer, the more productive their work.

The introduction of mechanical plows, starting with steam-powered tractors, revolutionized farming. By 1917, the Fordson Model F made tractors affordable, allowing even small-scale farmers to adopt mechanized processes. These machines codified many of the skills that farmers once needed—such as maintaining the correct depth of a furrow or the balance of a plow—into the equipment itself. Farmers no longer needed those manual skills; instead, they learned new ones related to operating and maintaining these machines.

By the 1930s, tractors saved billions of labor hours annually. Today, farms are managed with fleets of machines that can be operated remotely, drones survey fields, and sensors monitor soil conditions.

The skills to manually operate a plow have largely disappeared, but farmers now manage far more advanced systems that produce food for millions, not just local communities.

This transition is a mirror for what we see now in many industries with the advent of Multi-Agent Generative Systems (MAGS). Just as tractors transformed farming, MAGS will transform industries by codifying tasks into autonomous agents that observe their environment, reflect on the data, plan their actions, and execute them.

My Three Points on Skills in the Age of MAGS

1. Yes, People Will Lose Skills That Can Be Replaced by Autonomous Agents Just as farmers no longer need the skills to balance a plow, many current tasks and skills will be replaced by agents in MAGS that can handle observation, decision-making, and execution autonomously. The agent will “know” how to optimize processes based on codified knowledge, much like how modern farm equipment operates today.
2. No, These Skills Won’t Disappear—They Will Be Codified into Agents The skills and decisions that once required human experience will be embedded into agents that observe, reflect, plan, and act based on real-time data. This isn’t a loss but a shift. The expertise is not gone; it is codified into the Generative AI, Expert Systems, and Knowledge Bases that power MAGS.
3. We Will Develop New Skills to Manage Autonomous Agents The rise of MAGS won’t eliminate the need for human skills—it will shift them. Instead of performing the tasks directly, we will focus on managing, optimizing, and improving the actions of these autonomous agents. The ability to oversee and direct these intelligent systems will become the new essential skill set. Humans will be responsible for guiding these agents to ensure their actions align with larger objectives and strategies, enhancing decision-making across industries.

Adapting to Change: From Mechanization to MAGS

The transition from manual labor to mechanized systems is now evolving into the rise of autonomous systems like MAGS, which take over not just physical tasks but also cognitive ones. The progression mirrors history: in agriculture, we moved from oxen to steam tractors to automated fleets. Now, in industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and space research, we’re seeing a similar shift—from humans performing tasks to agents taking on those roles with increasing autonomy.

MAGS are not just tools; they are systems that can reason, plan, and execute. They operate based on a model that integrates real-time data, past experiences, and complex decision-making frameworks. As with farming, where tractors reduced physical labor but introduced new challenges and opportunities, MAGS will free humans from routine decision-making tasks while demanding new skills to manage this army of agents.

In this new world, adaptability remains the key. We won’t need to manage individual machines or even fleets of automated tools; instead, we will manage systems of agents that can observe, reflect, plan, and act. Our role will shift to higher-order thinking, strategy, and guiding these systems to deliver optimal outcomes—whether that’s in a factory on Earth or a farm on Mars.

A Future of New Opportunities

As we move forward, the quality of life, like that of today’s farmers compared to their predecessors, will improve. Instead of losing skills, we will adapt and develop new ones that align with the demands of the future. MAGS and other autonomous systems will give us the opportunity to focus on more meaningful, strategic tasks that push the boundaries of what we can achieve.

Whether it’s improving production efficiency on Earth or growing food in space, the shift towards Multi-Agent Generative Systems represents the next step in a long line of technological advancements that will allow us to work smarter, not harder.

About Plants4Space The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space initiative, led by. Prof Matthew Gilliham at the University of Adelaide explores innovative approaches to food and plant growth in extraterrestrial environments. Prof. Volker Hessel and his team are using XMPro Digital Twin software in their groundbreaking plant research, and we look forward to sharing more results in collaboration with this team soon.