What exactly is an AI Agent?

At its core, it's like a chatbot but with more functionality. Think of it as a specialized chatbot that interacts in the background and performs tasks based on commands or prompts. It's still evolving and might be a bit overhyped, but they can interact with APIs and systems beyond just chatting.

In essence, think of LLMs as the brain for theory and agentic AIs as the muscle that actually performs tasks and makes decisions. They're meant to facilitate actions in a way that goes beyond simple language processing.

The difference between a simple chatbot and an AI agent is huge! While a chatbot just retrieves text responses, an AI agent can actually communicate with application APIs to do things like modify files, send emails, or even run commands directly. They're more about action and interaction than just conversation.

Some say it's mostly a buzzword right now. An AI agent might be described as a type of chatbot that can operate invisibly and interact with systems to perform actions. They can be designed to act like a specific expert or fill in specific roles, but ultimately it still connects back to the basic chatbot functionality just with added complexity.

AI agents are actually quite advanced! They're systems that use large language models (LLMs) but can act independently in various ways. For instance, coding tools like Codex or Claude Code are AI agents that you download and run on your own PC. They can execute commands and manage files on your computer. Another example would be AI customer service agents, like those used by Amazon, which can handle refunds or dispatch orders automatically.