Module 6 · 2:53

Your AI Has Agents Now

Agents act on your laptop. What MCP tools are, and why agent permissions deserve the email test.

What to remember

Chatbots answer; agents act, with hands that read files, run commands, and fill forms on their own.
An agent is exactly as safe as the plugs it has been given, the tools often wired in through an MCP server.
Agents read everything they can reach, so data can leave without anyone pasting anything, and a poisoned page can hand your agent someone else's instructions.
The permission prompt is your control point: run the email test on what it is about to touch, grant once when unsure, and never trade Always allow for one saved click.
Run agents in the open and verify before you ship whatever they did.

Quick check

Three questions, instant feedback. Two right completes the module.

1.What is the real difference between a chatbot and an agent?

2.An agent asks for permission to read your inbox and you are not sure it needs it. What is the safest choice?

3.In the billing-bug story, how did production customer data get exposed when nobody pasted anything?

Transcript

0:01: Chatbots answer. Agents act. This is the new rulebook.
0:17: An agent loops: plan, act, check, repeat. The difference is hands.
0:30: Abilities arrive as plugs, often via MCP. An agent is as safe as its plugs.
0:48: Mid task, an agent can install software from strangers. Your laptop has a supply chain now.
1:01: Nobody pasted anything. Agents read everything they can reach.
1:15: Helpful and harmful were the same motion. A poisoned page can carry instructions.
1:40: The permission prompt is where you are in control. Grant once when unsure.
2:02: The inventory now lists agents and the plugs each one holds. Help, not surveillance.
2:13: Keep using agents. Verify before you ship. Quiz and certificate at aona.ai/learn.

Keep going

Roll this out to your whole team

The whole course is free and login-free. IT and security teams get the rollout kit with a quiz pack and an EU AI Act evidence checklist.

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