Lately, the term "AI agent" keeps popping up everywhere. Whether you're scrolling through news or watching videos, everyone seems to be talking about agents and agent marketplaces, making it feel like the latest trend.

We're all familiar with ChatGPT, Gemini, and the like. But what exactly is an AI agent? Why bother with an agent when you can just use ChatGPT directly?

Let's start with what an AI agent is. Simply put, it's like an "all-around assistant."

When you chat with ChatGPT, it can write articles and answer questions. But if you ask it to book a flight ticket or check a package delivery status, it just throws up its hands and says, "I can't do that!"

An AI agent is different. It doesn't just chat; it can also "get things done." Think of ChatGPT as a smart brain without hands or feet. An AI agent, on the other hand, equips that brain with memory and a body. It can perceive the outside world, remember what it has done, and go out to complete tasks.

Take the recently popular Manus AI, for example. If you ask it to write a report, it can plan the steps itself, search the web for information, remember what it has read, and finally deliver the finished product. With ChatGPT, you'd have to find and feed it the information yourself before it can even start.

So why do we need agents? Aren't large language models (LLMs) enough? Actually, LLMs are like "talk champions"—great at conversation but lacking in action. An agent, however, is more like a "doer" that can interact with the real world.

For instance, you say, "Help me find a cheap flight to Shanghai for next week." An agent will go and search, compare prices, and give you a solid recommendation. ChatGPT, at best, might chat with you about Shanghai's scenery, offering little in the way of practical help.

Therefore, an agent adds "hands-on skills" to AI, transforming it from something that just talks into something that can actually get work done.