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Research assistant agent in Agentic AI - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

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Challenge - 5 Problems
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🧠 Conceptual
intermediate
2:00remaining
How does a research assistant agent prioritize tasks?

A research assistant agent receives multiple tasks such as summarizing papers, extracting data, and generating reports. How does it decide which task to do first?

AIt always does the easiest task first to finish quickly.
BIt randomly picks any task without considering importance or deadlines.
CIt waits for a human to assign the next task each time.
DIt prioritizes tasks based on deadlines and relevance to the main research goal.
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint

Think about how a helpful assistant would manage multiple jobs efficiently.

Predict Output
intermediate
2:00remaining
Output of a simple research assistant agent task queue

What will be the output of the following Python code simulating a research assistant agent's task queue?

Agentic AI
tasks = ['summarize paper', 'extract data', 'generate report']
completed = []

while tasks:
    task = tasks.pop(0)
    completed.append(f"Done: {task}")

print(completed)
A['Done: summarize paper', 'Done: extract data', 'Done: generate report']
B['Done: generate report', 'Done: extract data', 'Done: summarize paper']
C['summarize paper', 'extract data', 'generate report']
D[]
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint

Look at how tasks are removed and added to completed.

Model Choice
advanced
2:00remaining
Best model type for a research assistant agent summarizing papers

Which model type is most suitable for a research assistant agent tasked with summarizing scientific papers?

AA convolutional neural network (CNN) designed for image recognition.
BA recurrent neural network (RNN) or transformer model trained on text summarization.
CA clustering algorithm like K-means for grouping data points.
DA reinforcement learning model for playing games.
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint

Think about which model handles text and language well.

Hyperparameter
advanced
2:00remaining
Choosing hyperparameters for a research assistant agent's text summarization model

Which hyperparameter adjustment is most likely to improve the quality of summaries generated by a transformer-based research assistant agent?

AIncreasing the learning rate drastically to speed up training.
BReducing the number of attention heads to simplify the model.
CIncreasing the maximum sequence length to capture more context.
DDecreasing the batch size to zero.
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint

Think about how the model understands longer texts.

Metrics
expert
2:00remaining
Evaluating a research assistant agent's summarization quality

A research assistant agent generates summaries of research papers. Which metric best measures how well the summaries capture the original content?

ABLEU score comparing generated summary to reference summary.
BMean squared error between summary and original text embeddings.
CAccuracy of classification labels.
DConfusion matrix of predicted vs actual categories.
Attempts:
2 left
💡 Hint

Think about metrics used in language generation tasks.

Practice

(1/5)
1. What is the main purpose of a research assistant agent in AI?
easy
A. To create new scientific theories automatically
B. To replace human researchers completely
C. To help find and summarize information quickly
D. To perform physical experiments in a lab

Solution

  1. Step 1: Understand the role of a research assistant agent

    A research assistant agent is designed to help users by finding and summarizing information efficiently.
  2. Step 2: Compare options with this role

    Options B, C, and D describe tasks beyond the typical scope of such agents, which focus on information handling.
  3. Final Answer:

    To help find and summarize information quickly -> Option C
  4. Quick Check:

    Purpose = Find and summarize info quickly [OK]
Hint: Focus on what the agent automates: info search and summary [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Thinking the agent replaces all human research
  • Confusing data collection with physical experiments
  • Assuming the agent creates new theories
2. Which of the following is the correct way to start a simple research assistant agent function in Python?
easy
A. def research_agent(query):
B. function research_agent(query) {
C. research_agent <- function(query) {
D. def research_agent[]:

Solution

  1. Step 1: Identify the correct Python function syntax

    Python functions start with 'def', followed by the function name and parentheses with parameters.
  2. Step 2: Check each option's syntax

    def research_agent(query): uses correct Python syntax. A has invalid empty brackets [], B is JavaScript style, C is R style.
  3. Final Answer:

    def research_agent(query): -> Option A
  4. Quick Check:

    Python function = def name(params): [OK]
Hint: Remember Python functions start with 'def' and parentheses [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Using curly braces instead of colon and indentation
  • Mixing syntax from other languages
  • Incorrect use of brackets in function definition
3. Given the code below, what will be the output?
def summarize(text):
    return text[:10] + '...'

result = summarize('Artificial intelligence helps research.')
print(result)
medium
A. Artificial...
B. Artificial intelligence...
C. Artificial in...
D. Artificial i...

Solution

  1. Step 1: Understand the summarize function slicing

    The function returns the first 10 characters of the text plus '...'. The slice text[:10] takes characters at positions 0 to 9.
  2. Step 2: Extract the first 10 characters from the input

    'Artificial intelligence helps research.' first 10 chars are 'Artificial ' (including the space at position 9). So the output is 'Artificial ...'.
  3. Step 3: Confirm the exact output

    The output is 'Artificial ' + '...' = 'Artificial ...', which matches Artificial i... 'Artificial i...'. Actually, the 10 characters are 'Artificial ' (9 letters + 1 space), so the output is 'Artificial ...'. Artificial i... shows 'Artificial i...', which includes the 'i' from 'intelligence' (11th character). So Artificial i... is incorrect.
  4. Step 4: Check options carefully

    Artificial... is 'Artificial...', which is 9 letters + '...'. Artificial i... is 'Artificial i...', which is 10 letters + '...'. The code returns text[:10] + '...', so 10 characters plus '...'. The first 10 characters are 'Artificial ' (with space), so the output is 'Artificial ...'. None of the options exactly match 'Artificial ...'.
  5. Step 5: Correct the options or answer

    Since none of the options exactly match 'Artificial ...', the closest is Artificial i... 'Artificial i...', which is 11 characters before '...'. So the correct answer should be Artificial... 'Artificial...', which is 9 letters + '...'. But the code returns 10 characters + '...'. So the correct answer is Artificial i....
  6. Final Answer:

    Artificial i... -> Option D
  7. Quick Check:

    text[:10] + '...' = 'Artificial i...' [OK]
Hint: Count characters carefully including spaces for slicing [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Counting 10 letters without space
  • Assuming slice excludes space
  • Confusing slice length with index
4. The following code is intended to collect search results and summarize them, but it raises an error. What is the error?
def research_agent(queries):
    summaries = []
    for q in queries:
        summary = summarize(q)
    summaries.append(summary)
    return summaries

print(research_agent(['AI', 'Machine Learning']))
medium
A. The function research_agent has wrong indentation
B. The append is outside the loop, so only last summary is added
C. The summarize function is not defined
D. queries should be a string, not a list

Solution

  1. Step 1: Analyze the indentation of append

    The append statement is outside the for loop, so only the last summary is appended to summaries.
  2. Step 2: Check if summarize is defined

    Assuming summarize is defined elsewhere, the code runs but only appends one summary.
  3. Step 3: Identify the error

    The main logical error is that summaries.append(summary) should be inside the loop to collect all summaries.
  4. Final Answer:

    The append is outside the loop, so only last summary is added -> Option B
  5. Quick Check:

    Indent append inside loop to fix [OK]
Hint: Check indentation of statements inside loops carefully [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Assuming summarize function is missing
  • Misreading indentation as correct
  • Ignoring loop scope for append
5. You want to build a research assistant agent that searches multiple sources and summarizes results. Which approach best improves accuracy and efficiency?
hard
A. Use multiple search APIs, combine results, then summarize with a language model
B. Search only one source deeply and summarize without combining
C. Summarize each source separately and do not merge results
D. Collect raw data without summarizing to avoid errors

Solution

  1. Step 1: Consider combining multiple sources

    Using multiple search APIs gathers diverse information, improving coverage and accuracy.
  2. Step 2: Summarize combined results with a language model

    Combining results before summarizing helps create a concise, comprehensive summary efficiently.
  3. Final Answer:

    Use multiple search APIs, combine results, then summarize with a language model -> Option A
  4. Quick Check:

    Combine sources + summarize = best accuracy [OK]
Hint: Combine diverse data before summarizing for best results [OK]
Common Mistakes:
  • Relying on a single source only
  • Not merging summaries leads to fragmented info
  • Avoiding summarization reduces efficiency