Why Can't Your AI Agent Book a Flight?
Summary
Imas and Fradkin argue that capable personal agents still cannot reliably transact across the web because human-oriented interfaces, platform incentives, authentication, anti-bot controls, and unclear delegated authority block them. They propose a regulated right to agentic access paired with identity and security duties.
Why it matters
The essay identifies an institutional gap between agent capability and market participation. Rules for access can determine whether independent user agents increase competition or platforms reserve agentic commerce for their own systems.
What to keep in mind
This is mainly a US legal and competition-policy argument, not a systematic cross-platform study. Wider access can also increase fraud, privacy, security, and congestion risks, and the relevant products and law are changing quickly.