What are AI agents?
Agent vs assistant
Compare deterministic assistants with agents and choose the simplest architecture.
Lesson overview
Agent vs assistant
The distinction is about control flow. An assistant can usually follow a known interaction pattern. An agent is useful when the system must choose among actions dynamically.
Prefer deterministic workflows when the steps are known in advance. Add agentic decision-making only where it creates value.
A useful design question is: if the model disappeared, could normal application code still enforce the important rules? In a safe system, the answer should be yes.
Learning path
Theory → Example → Code → Practice → Quiz → Challenge → Completion
Step 1
Theory
Agent vs assistant
The distinction is about control flow. An assistant can usually follow a known interaction pattern. An agent is useful when the system must choose among actions dynamically.
Prefer deterministic workflows when the steps are known in advance. Add agentic decision-making only where it creates value.
A useful design question is: if the model disappeared, could normal application code still enforce the important rules? In a safe system, the answer should be yes.
Step 2
Example
Example
Apply Agent vs assistant to a realistic production scenario and trace the decision step by step.
Step 3
Code
Code
Add implementation notes or a runnable example for this concept.
Step 4
Practice
Practice
Write down the inputs, expected output, constraints, and one failure case for Agent vs assistant.
Step 5
Quiz
Quiz coming soon.
Step 6
Challenge
Challenge
Design a production-ready solution for Agent vs assistant and explain one important trade-off.
Complete every stage
Work through every step in order, then the lesson will be marked complete.
Each chapter and subtopic has its own public URL under /ai-agent.