Beginner 5 min read

AI agents 101: what they actually are

A quick intro to agentic AI, and the one difference from a chatbot that changes what you can build.

How an AI agent works

Goal

You give it a goal, not a script.

Plan

It breaks the goal into small steps.

Tools

Web search, files, email, code.

Act

It carries out each step on its own.

Result

  • Check: fixes mistakes
  • Loops until done

Step by step

  1. Goal

    Say what you want done.

  2. Plan

    It splits the goal into steps.

  3. Act

    It uses tools for each step.

  4. Check

    It looks at what happened and fixes mistakes.

  5. Result

    You get the finished job.

An agent loops through plan, act and check until the goal is done.