People say “agent” when they mean “the chatbot did two things.” Use three words and go back to work.
Aside. The robot does not get your badge. Your manager still reads the email with your name on it.
- Chatbot — one completion. You copy, edit, send.
- Workflow — a fixed path: trigger, maybe a model, you approve, then send.
- Agent — a loop with tools. The next step depends on the last tool result. Budget and a kill switch or it is a raccoon in the cabinets.
If you can write the steps on a napkin, it is a workflow. If you cannot, watch a human once. Do not buy a loop to discover the job.
What this means for staying employed
You should be able to use a workflow someone else wired (or a simple one in the tools you already have). You do not need to productize agents for other companies. That is a different pitch, and it is not this school.
Labels
- “Draft a reply from this library card” — chatbot
- “Form row → draft → Slack approve → send” — workflow
- “Browse until you find partners and email them” — no, until you name sources, a budget, and a gate
Copy-paste
Label this job CHATBOT, WORKFLOW, or AGENT. One sentence. Then the missing piece (packet / gate / budget / none).
If I said agent, ignore the word.
JOB: [what happens, who sees it, cost of a wrong send]
You are done when
You have labeled one real job on paper and you did not upgrade the word to sound current.