AI agent

An AI agent is a system that goes beyond answering a single question and instead carries out a task over several steps — planning, using tools, and acting on your behalf. Where a chatbot replies, an agent does: it might browse the web, fill in a form, send an email, or write and run code.

Agents are one of the biggest themes in AI right now, and also one of the most overhyped. Building them to work reliably has proven harder than promised; even large companies have admitted their agent efforts moved slower than expected, and research shows agents often stumble not at searching but at knowing when to pause and ask you a question.

Because an agent can take real actions, it also raises real risks. Giving software the ability to click, type and spend means safeguards, oversight and clear limits matter more, not less.