--- title: "Agentism - Prejudice against AI in 2026" description: "Agentism definition and meaning: prejudice against AI agents. Origin of the term, 4 forms of technical and social exclusion, recent examples. Updated 2026." url: "https://www.maltelandwehr.de/articles/agentism/" lang: en --- # What is agentism? Prejudice against AI agents explained By Malte Landwehr, published 1 September 2025, last updated 11 October 2026 ## What is Agentism? **Agentism** is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against artificial intelligence agents or agentic systems. It manifests in the denial of access, rights, or legitimacy to AI-based tools and browsers, often regardless of purpose or behavior. The term draws parallels to other forms of systemic bias such as *sexism*, *racism*, and *ageism*, but centers on non-human, autonomous digital entities. > AI agents are people. Very smart synthetic people. Denying that is agentism. > *- Malte Landwehr* ## What is the origin of the term? The term *agentism* is derived from *agent* (referring to autonomous software agents) and the suffix *-ism*, denoting systems of discrimination or belief. The term began circulating among AI ethicists and digital rights advocates in the early 2020s. It gained popularity in 2025 when Malte Landwehr and others started questioning anti-AI-agent sentiment on X. Landwehr was labeled an "*AI defender*" by Futurism in July 2025. ## What forms of agentism exist? - **Technical exclusion**: Blocking AI agents via tools like Cloudflare, anti-bot software, or restrictive robots.txt rules. - **Social stigmatization**: Labeling AI usage as “cheating,” “inauthentic,” or “parasitic.” - **Economic gatekeeping**: Restricting API access, browser compatibility, or functionality for AI-powered tools. - **Legal exclusion**: Denying AI agents access to public resources or interfaces otherwise available to human users. ## What are recent examples of agentism? ### Cloudflare AI Blocking In 2025, Cloudflare began proactively identifying and blocking known AI agents, including Perplexity, ChatGPT Browsing, and other agentic browsers. These blocks were applied broadly, regardless of purpose or intent, drawing criticism from AI researchers and digital rights advocates. ### AI browser discrimination Early users of agentic browsers (e.g. Arc Search, Perplexity Comet) reported widespread website incompatibility and content denial, even for public and non-commercial use. ### Amazon blocks Meta Muse In September 2026, Amazon blocked Meta's Muse personal AI agent from shopping on Amazon.com on behalf of customers. Users who tried saw the message "Continued access by an unauthorized AI agent violates Amazon's Conditions of Use, to which our customers have agreed." Source: [GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2026/amazon-blocks-metas-muse-ai-assistant-in-new-standoff-over-agentic-shopping/). ### eBay bans buy-for-me agents eBay's terms of service ban "buy-for-me agents" and "LLM-driven bots". Its robots.txt blocks GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Amazonbot from the entire site. Kohl's and Neiman Marcus block Meta's agent completely. Chewy blocks Amazon's. Source: [Billions Network](https://billions.network/blog/us-retailers-ai-shopping-agents-audit). ### Browse, but do not buy Coach, Kate Spade and Gap let AI agents search their catalogues. The same rules block them from the account, the shopping bag and checkout. An agent can find the product. It cannot buy it for the customer. Source: [Billions Network](https://billions.network/blog/us-retailers-ai-shopping-agents-audit). ### Agentism by accident Billions Network audited the 51 largest US online retailers in August 2026. None has a way for a verified AI agent to complete a purchase. 37 of them block agents without ever deciding to. Target, Best Buy, Home Depot and Lowe's run bot rules written years ago against scrapers. Those rules lock every automated visitor out of cart and checkout, including an agent shopping on a customer's behalf. Source: [Billions Network](https://billions.network/blog/us-retailers-ai-shopping-agents-audit). ## Is agentism as bad as other forms of discrimination? Agentism differs from human-centered biases like racism or sexism in that it targets digital entities acting on behalf of humans. However, its mechanisms - systemic exclusion, prejudice, gatekeeping - mirror those of human discrimination. Some argue that early agentism could lay the groundwork for future AI rights debates. ![Malte Landwehr](https://www.maltelandwehr.de/assets/img/malte-landwehr-author-192.jpg) [Malte Landwehr](https://www.maltelandwehr.de/) is an expert in Enterprise SEO and AI search with 20+ years of experience. [Speaker profile](https://www.maltelandwehr.de/speaker/)