the problem is scale. there's a tension between an individual developing technical skills (transfer cost is high, slow, expensive) and developing agent skills (transfer cost is low, instant, free).

so, just like a manager manages employees, or you consult a contractor, agents are a way of getting leverage over a system.

that said, if you want to learn to play saxophone, you're free to do so. just note your personal endeavors may begin to look more like hobbies than marketable skills.

Shareholders want the company to figure out how to pay fewer employees, and pay them less by down-skilling them