AI agent

Definition

An AI agent is a program that pursues a goal over multiple steps, choosing its own actions along the way, rather than answering one prompt at a time.

The word is used loosely. A useful test: if it cannot take an action that changes something, it is an assistant rather than an agent. The serious question with any agent is not whether it can act but what it is allowed to do without asking, which is why approval gates matter more than autonomy.