Abstract
As AI becomes more "agentic," it faces technical and socio-legal issues it
must address if it is to fulfill its promise of increased economic productivity
and efficiency. This paper uses technical and legal perspectives to explain how
things change when AI systems start being able to directly execute tasks on
behalf of a user. We show how technical conceptions of agents track some, but
not all, socio-legal conceptions of agency. That is, both computer science and
the law recognize the problems of under-specification for an agent, and both
disciplines have robust conceptions of how to address ensuring an agent does
what the programmer, or in the law, the principal desires and no more. However,
to date, computer science has under-theorized issues related to questions of
loyalty and to third parties that interact with an agent, both of which are
central parts of the law of agency. First, we examine the correlations between
implied authority in agency law and the principle of value-alignment in AI,
wherein AI systems must operate under imperfect objective specification.
Second, we reveal gaps in the current computer science view of agents
pertaining to the legal concepts of disclosure and loyalty, and how failure to
account for them can result in unintended effects in AI ecommerce agents. In
surfacing these gaps, we show a path forward for responsible AI agent
development and deployment.
Abstract
AI agentic programming is an emerging paradigm in which large language models
(LLMs) autonomously plan, execute, and interact with external tools like
compilers, debuggers, and version control systems to iteratively perform
complex software development tasks. Unlike conventional code generation tools,
agentic systems are capable of decomposing high-level goals, coordinating
multi-step processes, and adapting their behavior based on intermediate
feedback. These capabilities are transforming the software development
practice. As this emerging field evolves rapidly, there is a need to define its
scope, consolidate its technical foundations, and identify open research
challenges. This survey provides a comprehensive and timely review of AI
agentic programming. We introduce a taxonomy of agent behaviors and system
architectures, and examine core techniques including planning, memory and
context management, tool integration, and execution monitoring. We also analyze
existing benchmarks and evaluation methodologies used to assess coding agent
performance. Our study identifies several key challenges, including limitations
in handling long context, a lack of persistent memory across tasks, and
concerns around safety, alignment with user intent, and collaboration with
human developers. We discuss emerging opportunities to improve the reliability,
adaptability, and transparency of agentic systems. By synthesizing recent
advances and outlining future directions, this survey aims to provide a
foundation for research and development in building the next generation of
intelligent and trustworthy AI coding agents.