Comment by lxgr

> if Bob can do things with agents, he can do things.

This point is directly addressed in the paper: Bob will ultimately not be able to do the things Alice can, with or without agents, because he didn't build the necessary internal deep structure and understanding of the problem space.

And if Alice later on ends up being a better scientist (using agents!) than Bob will ever be, would you not say there was something lost to the world?

Learning needs a hill to climb, and somebody to actually climb it. Bob only learned how to press an elevator button.