This is ChatGPT, This is a Custom Agent
Book 2 · 5 min read. ChatGPT Tells you. You ask, it answers, and you do the work. A custom agent Does it for you. You give it a job, and it takes the steps.
Introduction
Tells you. You ask, it answers, and you do the work.
Does it for you. You give it a job, and it takes the steps.
The three stages of AI
1. The chatbot. You type a question and get an answer. ChatGPT (by OpenAI), Claude (by Anthropic) and Grok (by xAI) all started here. Great for writing, ideas and explaining things.
2. The assistant. It knows a bit about you, can read your files and remembers context. It helps you think and draft faster.
3. The agent. It can actually take action: check your calendar, draft emails, update your task list, and come back to you for approval. This is where things are heading now.
What's trending now
The big change is that AI no longer just talks. Agents like Grok Bot can work across your apps and handle the follow-ups you keep forgetting. The good ones still ask before anything important goes out.
How to start today
Step 1. Try a free chatbot like ChatGPT, Claude or Grok. Ask it to rewrite one of your customer messages.
Step 2. Notice which tasks you repeat every week.
Step 3. Hand one of those repeat tasks to an agent, and keep approvals on. Learn by doing, one task at a time.