Tool choice distinguishes agents from fixed workflows

An Agent Is Just an LLM in a For-Loop

Extracto original

Fair enough. The key distinction is whether the system makes its own decisions about when and why to use a tool, versus being put in a pipeline where you explicitly say “always do steps one, two, and three.” An agent might decide to do steps 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3 — deciding on its own when and where to use specific tools. I think that’s maybe the best distinction between what is and isn’t an agent.