What’s the difference between AI agents and AI assistants?
Autonomy.
TL;DR
Artificial intelligence (AI) agents and assistants are both helpful little applications that can interact with users and perform complex tasks. AI agents are more autonomous and goal-oriented than assistants, often working in the background without direct user involvement. AI assistants, on the other hand, are built for interaction — focusing on assisting users with tasks and providing information in a user-friendly way. In other words, AI assistants are reactive while AI agents are proactive.
AI agents
Focus: Autonomy and goal-driven tasks.
Purpose: AI agents are designed to perform tasks independently, often working in the background or as part of a larger system. Agents can make decisions and act based on specific goals, without needing constant user input.
Interaction: Interaction with users may be minimal or indirect. Agents are often designed to “work behind the scenes” or integrate with systems to achieve outcomes without frequent user intervention.
Autonomy: Operates with a higher degree of autonomy than AI assistants. AI agents often make decisions based on pre-set rules or learned patterns and executes actions without requiring user approval (scary).
Examples
- A chatbot that autonomously moderates online forums by detecting inappropriate content.
- A smart home system that automatically adjusts heating and lighting based on learned user habits.
- An AI agent managing stock trades based on real-time market data.
AI assistants
Focus: User interaction and task facilitation.
Purpose: AI assistants are designed to interact with users, providing support, answering questions, or assisting with specific tasks in a conversational or guided manner. It often relies on user input to perform tasks.
Interaction: Direct interaction with users is central. Assistants are built to respond to user queries, understand intent, and engage in conversation to fulfill user needs.
Autonomy: Operates with much less autonomy than AI agents, as it typically waits for instructions or requests from users before acting.
Examples
- A virtual assistant like Siri or Alexa helping with reminders or answering questions.
- ChatGPT helping you write or answer questions.
- Google Assistant setting up your calendar or answering trivia.
What does this have to do with website design?
A lot. The trendy, AI-driven “no-code” movement has flooded the field with so-called web designers and developers who can do neither. They’re merely assemblers — cobbling together a bunch of AI-generated widgets and selling them as a magic solution guaranteed to 10X your revenue. Great for them, but is it really for you?
Our thoughts
We think this is all fascinating stuff in a gee-whiz Buck Rogers sort of way. But we can’t help but wonder how our customers will react when they find out that darling Marge is really an AI assistant. Or worse, when super-efficient Noah the AI agent goes rogue and charges our new client $10,000 for services not yet rendered. Also, we keep coming back to a more fundamental question: Why is it called “artificial” intelligence?
