AI agents
What is the difference between a chatbot and an AI agent?
A chatbot is a single turn: you ask, it answers, done. An agent runs a loop, controlling how the work unfolds rather than following a fixed script.
An AI agent is a language model that has been given a goal and the means to pursue it. Instead of writing a single reply, it decides what to do next, takes an action, looks at what came back, and decides again. It keeps going until it judges the goal met or hands control back to you. As one comparison puts it, chatbots handle conversations and agents handle work.[1]
The cleanest way to tell them apart is to ask where the loop is.
A chatbot is a single turn. You ask, the model answers, and that is the end of the exchange. Nothing happens in the world unless you go and do it.
An agent runs a loop. It is handed a goal, then it reasons about a step, acts, observes the result, and repeats. OpenAI draws the line at exactly this point: a system is an agent when the model itself controls how the work unfolds, rather than following a fixed script.[2]
Common agent frameworks
- OpenAI Agents SDK ↗
Anthropic-independent toolkit and AgentKit for building agents, with a widely-read practical guide.
- Anthropic — Building Effective Agents ↗
The reference essay on when to use a workflow versus an agent, with patterns.
- LangGraph ↗
Graph-based framework for stateful, multi-step agents from the LangChain team.
- CrewAI ↗
Framework for coordinating multiple role-playing agents on a shared task.