Before the Age of Agents — A reflection on the human impatience to delegate before understanding

As AI rushes to act on our behalf, we risk skipping the most human part of intelligence — understanding.
This essay revisits the pre-agent era, when we still built tools to think with, not just through. It explores what we lose when automation outruns comprehension, how delegation without depth breeds fragility, and why restraint—not acceleration—may be our most radical design act.

The claim: before building agents that act for us, we must rebuild our capacity to think with them. The next evolution of intelligence isn’t faster—it’s more reflective.

🎧 Listen as part of the “Nuance Essays” series from m-verse — reflections at the intersection of product, design, and intelligence.
🌐 Read the full essay: m-verse.com/nuance/before-the-age-of-agents
🪞 Related ideas: Human-in-the-Loop · Reflective Intelligence · Delegation vs. Understanding · Cognitive Companions · Slow AI