Unlike a simple chatbot, an AI agent can decide for itself which steps are needed and use external tools such as search, code execution, or APIs. It works in loops: plan, act, observe the result, and choose the next step. Agents form the foundation for complex applications such as research assistants or autonomous coding tools. Standards like function calling and MCP enable access to external tools.
AI Agent
An AI agent is a system that combines a language model with tools and memory to solve tasks autonomously across multiple steps. It can plan, call tools, and react to results.