AI chatbots are designed mainly to understand questions and generate responses, while AI agents can plan tasks, use tools, make decisions, and take actions to achieve a goal. Both can use large language models (LLMs), but their level of autonomy and ability to complete multi-step workflows are very different. As AI continues to move beyond simple conversations, understanding this difference is becoming increasingly important for professionals, developers, and businesses. AI agents are becoming a major part of the shift toward agentic AI, where AI systems can do more than generate content—they can work toward specific outcomes. What Is an AI Chatbot? An AI chatbot is a conversational system designed to interact with users through natural language. It receives a question or instruction and generates a relevant response. For example, a customer might ask a chatbot: “What is your return policy?” The chatbot can find the relevant information and explain it. It may also answer product questi...