Chatbots answer
A chatbot is a conversation. Someone asks a question and it replies, usually from a set of documents, FAQs or a knowledge base.
Modern AI chatbots are dramatically better than the old scripted kind. They understand natural language and can answer questions they were never explicitly programmed for, as long as the answer is in their information.
Agents act
An AI agent is given a goal and the tools to reach it. It can look things up, decide what to do next and take action: update a CRM, draft and send an email, book a meeting, file a document.
Agents can work in the background with no conversation at all, like an agent that watches your inbox for invoices and enters them into your accounting software.
When you need a chatbot
- Customers or employees keep asking the same questions.
- You want instant answers on your website, 24/7.
- The job is mostly informing people, not doing work for them.
When you need an agent
- Work moves between several tools and someone has to carry it.
- The task needs judgment on messy inputs like emails or documents.
- You want the work done, not just explained.
Most businesses end up with both
A common pattern is a website assistant that answers questions and books calls, plus agents behind the scenes that handle follow-up, data entry and reporting. Together they cover both conversation and action.
Related: custom AI agents and AI chatbots and website assistants.