TOPIC 01 OF 06
What makes it an agent
Answering vs. actingA chatbot answers; an agent acts. Give an assistant the ability to use tools — read your email, browse, send a message, move money — and it can now carry out a task in the world, not just describe it. That one capability, taking actions, is what changes everything about the trust you extend it.
"Summarise this thread" is a chatbot task — you read the result and decide what to do. "Reply to everyone who hasn't responded and reschedule the call" is an agent task — it takes actions on your behalf, some of which you can't undo.
The moment an assistant can act, its confident mistakes have consequences instead of just wasting your time. The skill isn't a better assistant; it's deciding what it may do without you.
Sort three things you'd like help with into two piles: 'just tell me' and 'actually do it'. The second pile is agent territory.