The boundary isn’t where you think. Even a modern chatbot uses a large model—the difference isn’t in the "intelligence" of the conversation, but in whether the system has agency: can it do something, or only talk about it?
Chatbot: conversation
#A chatbot takes a question and returns an answer. It’s great for FAQs, initial qualification, or navigating knowledge. Its limit is clear: anything requiring action in a system gets bounced back to a human ("contact department X").
Agent: execution
#An agent receives a goal, not a question. It breaks it into steps, reaches for tools, checks the result, and iterates until the goal is achieved. The key is tools—standardized access to systems (e.g., via MCP), so the agent reads and writes data, not just describes what should be done.
Three differences that matter
#- Agency—an agent changes the state of the world (a record, an email, a ticket); a chatbot returns text.
- Loop—an agent plans, acts, and verifies results in a loop; a chatbot is a single turn of answers.
- Accountability—an agent needs boundaries, logging, and human approval points where actions are irreversible.
How to design this loop and boundaries is covered in our agent research.
When you need which
#You need a chatbot when the problem is access to knowledge (customers can’t find answers). You need an agent when the problem is repetitive work (someone manually copies data between systems every day). Often, a hybrid works best: a chatbot talks on the front end, while an agent executes what the customer agreed to.
Try it live
#The example below runs the model through our secure sandbox—the same one used in the playground: PII masked, zero retention, same rate limits and abuse controls. Edit the text and click Run.
FAQ
#Is an AI agent just a better chatbot?
#No—it’s a different category. A chatbot conducts conversation; an agent executes tasks in your systems. An agent can use a chatbot as an interface, but its core is action, not answers.
Is an agent safe if it acts autonomously?
#It’s safe when it has clear boundaries: defined permissions, logging for every step, and human approval for irreversible actions. Agency without boundaries is a risk—which is why we design them from the start.
Where to start?
#With one narrow, highly repetitive process. It’s easier to measure ROI and safer to grant an agent agency when the scope is small and well-defined.