AI agent
An AI system that can take actions to complete a task, not just answer questions. It may search the web, use apps or carry out several steps on its own.
A regular chatbot replies to you and then waits. An agent is given a goal and works towards it in steps: it plans what to do, uses tools such as a web browser, a calendar or a spreadsheet, checks the result and carries on.
Imagine asking an assistant to "find three train times to Ljubljana next Friday morning and add the best one to my calendar". An agent might search the timetable, compare options and create the calendar entry, telling you what it did.
The word "agent" is used loosely, and companies label many different products this way, so look at what a tool can actually do. Because agents act on your behalf, mistakes can have real effects, such as a wrong booking or a sent email. Be careful about which accounts and payment details you give an agent access to, and ask it to confirm important steps with you first.
Related: Chatbot, Large language model (LLM), Alignment