Learning path · Lesson 1

What is an AI agent?

A chatbot answers. An agent acts: it plans steps, uses tools and keeps going until a task is done.

The three parts of every agent

A model that reasons, such as a frontier model in the cloud or a local model on your own machine.
Tools it can call: a browser, your inbox, a code terminal, a spreadsheet. Standards like the Model Context Protocol make these connections reusable.
A loop: the agent looks at the result of each step and decides what to do next.

Frontier vs local

Frontier agents (like Claude, ChatGPT agent or Gemini) are the most capable, and they run in the vendor's cloud. Local models run on your hardware, so your data stays with you, but they're less capable. Most real setups mix the two.

How to try one safely

Start with read-only access to one app.
Keep confirmations on for sending, buying and deleting.
Give it one specific task with a clear finish line.

Next: pick an agent for research, or browse the agent directory.