How AI Agents Reshape Knowledge Work: Autonomy, Efficiency, and Scope

In three linesPerplexity studies Computer (autonomous agent) vs Search (conversational assistant) using production data. Computer performs 26 minutes of autonomous work per session vs 33 seconds for Search, reduces task completion time from 269 to 36 minutes (-87%), cuts dissatisfaction by 55%, and expands task scope (cross-domain work, higher-order cognition).

Summary generated by Claude — human-verified