Guide
AI agent, chatbot, assistant: what is the difference?
The words are used loosely, often by the same company for the same product. The difference that matters is simple: what can it do without you?
In short. A chatbot answers you. An assistant also works with your own things, your mail, calendar and notes, and helps when you ask. An agent takes several steps on its own towards a goal and can act in the world. The line between them is what the AI may do without you, and that is also where the risks and the approvals belong.
Three kinds, side by side
| Chatbot | Assistant | Agent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Answers questions in a conversation | Answers and helps with your own mail, calendar and notes | Plans and takes several steps towards a goal |
| Example | “What is the capital of Finland?” | “What do I have tomorrow, and did Anna reply?” | “Find a table for four on Friday and book it.” |
| What it can change | Nothing outside the chat | Drafts and reminders, usually with your say | Real things: emails sent, meetings moved, money spent |
| What can go wrong | A wrong answer | A wrong answer about your day, a privacy slip | A wrong action, or one it was tricked into |
The line that matters
Labels move with marketing; abilities do not. Ask what the AI can do without you:
- Read only? Then the risk is mostly a wrong answer or your data going where you did not expect.
- Draft? Fine, as long as drafts wait for you.
- Act? Then it needs approvals for anything that sends, moves, pays or deletes, and a log of what it did: an AI that asks first.
Agents also read what strangers write, which can be used to trick them: prompt injection.
Questions to ask any of them
- What can it do without asking me?
- How do I stop it, quickly, from wherever I am?
- Where does my data go, and who else receives it? Your data rights.
- Will it tell me it is an AI? In the EU, chatbots must say so, unless it is obvious: the AI Act and AI assistants.
Where Lychnos Ring sits
Lychnos is an assistant that can act as an agent for small tasks: reply to Anna, move a meeting, set a reminder. It proposes, shows the action on the ring’s screen, and waits for one press; two presses stop it. It is in development: an AI agent on your finger.
Questions
What is the difference between an AI agent and a chatbot?
A chatbot answers in a conversation. An agent takes steps on its own to reach a goal: it can search, open your email or calendar, and act. The more an AI can act, the more it should ask you before it does.
Are AI assistants becoming agents?
Many are adding agent features, such as booking, sending or buying. The useful question is not the label but what it can do without asking you, and how you can stop it.