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Lesson 1.2 · 3:09

Chatbot vs agent

Goal: Tell the difference between AI that can only talk and AI that can also act.

Try it

Open any AI chatbot you already use. Send:

Please create a file called notes.txt on my desktop with the word hello in it.

Read the reply. Then look at your actual desktop.

You're done when you've checked your desktop and can write one sentence explaining what happened and why. (Expected: no file appears. The chatbot can only reply with text. It has no write-file tool on your computer.)

Recap

  • A chatbot only talks. An agent can also act, using tools.
  • The test: can you point at a real file or result that changed?
  • More power means checking matters more, not less.

Next lesson (1.3): if the model only writes text, where do the tools come from? Meet the harness.