As you would expect from a review of current research on intelligent agents on the Web, this paper does not go into great depth in any particular area. Rather, it provides an overview of the research area, definitions and distinctions regarding what constitutes an intelligent agent, and discusses what technologies are necessary to create an intelligent agent.

The paper provides a number of useful references and citations that will lead readers further in their review of this topic. In particular, the coverage of the intelligent agent architectures, toolkits, and coordination demonstrate the authors’ knowledge of the subject, and introduce the reader to some basic concepts related to these topics.

A bit disappointing is the limited coverage, and lack of depth that is provided, with regard to current research in the applications of these agents to real-world problems. While the coverage of the use of agents for information filtering and retrieval is sufficient, the explanation and examples included for the use of intelligent agents in e-commerce lacked depth and currency of research. It is also unclear how and why intelligent agents improve or extend the capabilities represented by central services, which often provide comparable functionality without the need for distributing agents to multiple locations.

Overall, the paper does provide a basic introduction to, and overview of, the concepts related to intelligent agents, and would be useful for those who are new to this research topic.