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What is an AI agent?

An AI agent is software that takes a task from start to finish. You give it a goal, it works out the steps and carries them out: answering an email, holding a date in the calendar, updating a list. The difference with a chatbot is small to explain and large in practice. A chatbot answers, an agent does the work. Below I explain what that means if you perform, book, or run a venue or festival.

What is the difference between an AI agent and a chatbot?

A chatbot waits for your question and hands back text. After that it is on you: copy it, send it, put it somewhere.

An agent has access to your mail, your calendar or your files, and is allowed to act there. It reads the request, checks whether the date is free, and prepares a reply.

That is also where the limit sits. Anything allowed to act can act in a way you did not mean. So I work with one simple rule: anything going out, you see first.

What can an AI agent do in live music and events?

The work that piles up is usually not the creative work. It is the request from three weeks ago, the rider that still needs signing off, the invoice that never went out.

That is exactly what an agent is good at: work that repeats, with a clear start and end. Replying to booking requests, holding a date, sending a tech list through to the venue, chasing a contract that has not come back.

What an agent does not do: decide which gig you take or what your programme looks like. That stays yours.

Why does every explanation of AI agents sound the same?

Search for 'ai agent' and you mostly get explanations from big software companies. They are usually correct, but written for an IT department with a budget and a project group.

If you work alone, or with two other people, that does not help much. Your question is not which architecture suits your organisation. Your question is who answers that email while you are on the bus to the next venue.

So I write it down differently here: what an agent actually takes over, what it should stay away from, and where you keep an eye on it.

How do you start with an AI agent without the hassle?

Start with one task that keeps coming back and that you dislike doing. One task, not ten.

Let the agent handle it for a few weeks while you look over its shoulder. If the answers are right, you hand over more. If they are not, you adjust it or you stop.

You do not need a new system for this. I work inside the mail, the calendar and the files you already use.

Frequently asked questions

Is an AI agent the same as ChatGPT?

No. ChatGPT answers what you ask. An agent gets access to your mail or calendar and finishes the task. The technology behind them is similar, what they are allowed to do is not.

Can an AI agent send emails on my behalf?

Only if you switch that on. By default I prepare a draft and you decide. Once you see that a certain kind of reply is always right, you can let that part go.

What if the agent gets something wrong?

You will see it, because everything I do can be read back. You can switch a task off or undo it. In doubt, set it back to 'show me first'.

Tell me which job always ends up at the bottom of your list, and I will look at whether I can take it over.