What Are AI Agents and Why Everyone Is Talking About Them?
Generative AI has been a buzzword for the past two years now. But lately, you might have noticed another term popping up—AI Agents. All major AI companies, including Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and even open-source models, have started moving in this direction. Manythink2025 will be the year of AI agents.
So, what exactly are these AI agents? And why is everyone suddenly talking about them? Let’s break it down step-by-step.
Table of Contents
What Are AI Agents?
Imagine an AI model that doesn’t just reply with text but takes action on your behalf. These actions can be as simple as booking flight tickets or replying to an email, or as complex as managing an entire customer support system or even automating a factory.
In simple terms, they automate tasks likeGoogle Assistantor Alexa—but far more intelligently. For example, if you ask an AI agent to “Send an email to John summarizing my recent meeting”:
In contrast, Google Assistant or Alexa would require you to provide the subject and body of the email, leaving much of the task in your hands.
There are multiple types of AI Agents:
However, at the core, all AI agents automate tasks by making decisions, thinking through logic, learning from past interactions, and performing multiple steps to achieve a goal.
Sometimes, multiple AI agents even work together to solve larger tasks. For example, if you ask it to complete an entire web development project, one AI agent designs the page, another writes the content, a third programs the project, and another tests the code and output. Why? When AI agents specialize in specific tasks, they perform with greater precision. So it makes sense to combine multiple AI agents who will complete the task by talking to each other while also delivering better results.
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How Do AI Agents Work?
AI agents work by observing, planning, acting, and learning—similar to how humans handle tasks. Let’s break this process down with an example. Imagine you want an AI agent to organize your messy photo collection. You give it one simple instruction—sort photos by date and create folders for vacations, birthdays, and family events.
Step 1: Observe
The AI agent scans your photos, reads timestamps, and may use image recognition to detect faces or objects. It doesn’t just follow a pre-written rule; it analyzes patterns and identifies what’s important. Basically, what chatbots are doing these days, but here agent proceeds to complete the task.
Step 2: Plan
Once the AI gathers data during the observation step, it moves on to planning how to organize the photos effectively. It decides how to group photos—perhaps by location first, then by date, and then by themes like beaches or birthday cakes. At this stage, it doesn’t ask you to confirm every step; instead, it builds its own workflow to achieve the goal.
Step 3: Act
Once the plan is ready, it executes with actions. It creates folders, renames files, and organizes everything. If it detects duplicates, it may delete them or ask for confirmation. Missing dates? It might even make educated guesses based on patterns like faces or locations. AI Agents can work with real apps or gadgets either through APIs or simulating and clicks and taps just like humans.
Step 4: Learn
Finally, the AI learns from its own experience. If it places a beach photo under birthdays and you correct it, the AI remembers that preference for next time. The more it works, the better it gets at understanding your needs and how you think and work.
This cycle—observe, plan, act, and learn—makes AI agents smarter and more useful the more you use them. While I have explained here with a simple example, the same pattern will be used for various other functions.
Real-World Use Cases for AI Agents
Why Is Everyone Talking About AI Agents?
AI agents are making headlines these days because they can automate tasks and act similarly to human assistants. Examples include running businesses, managing warehouses or factories, automating smart homes, helping in healthcare, etc. It’s like J.A.R.V.I.S from IronMan.
On one hand, while the technology seems interesting, it can raise privacy and ethical issues. These AI Agents can access your private info on your devices or will theyreplace your jobs?
Ravi Teja KNTS
Tech writer with over 4 years of experience at TechWiser, where he has authored more than 700 articles on AI, Google apps, Chrome OS, Discord, and Android. His journey started with a passion for discussing technology and helping others in online forums, which naturally grew into a career in tech journalism. Ravi’s writing focuses on simplifying technology, making it accessible and jargon-free for readers. When he’s not breaking down the latest tech, he’s often immersed in a classic film – a true cinephile at heart.
