What Even Is an AI Agent?
💡 Let's start with a simple question
You've probably used ChatGPT or Claude before. You ask a question, it answers. But what if you could give an AI a goal instead of a question—and it figured out all the steps to get there on its own?
That's an AI agent. It thinks, plans, uses tools, and takes actions to accomplish a goal without you micromanaging every step.
Think of it like this: a chatbot is like texting a smart friend. An agent is like hiring an assistant who goes off, does the work, and comes back with results.
Perception
Observes environment—files, web, data.
Reasoning
Thinks through what to do next.
Action
Actually does things—search, write, call APIs.
Which best describes an AI agent?
Giving Your Agent Superpowers
🔧 Tools = Actions Your Agent Can Take
Without tools, your agent is just a chatbot. Tools let it actually do things—search the web, read files, save reports.
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Build Your Research Agent
Final Project
Build a complete research agent that searches, reads, and saves reports.
- Create web_search tool
- Create read_article tool
- Create save_report tool
- Assemble agent with all tools
What's Next?
You've learned the fundamentals. Now explore more tutorials or join the community.