---
id: "prereq-agentic-ai-d9"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["§ How People Relate to Bots", "§ Warning Signs Ahead"]
tags: ["ai-literacy"]
related: ["concept-ai-anthropomorphism", "framework-four-risks-ai-relationships", "question-avatar-team-dynamics"]
reason: "Required to grasp why the threat of AI replacing human social interaction is escalating from simple chatbots to autonomous digital coworkers."
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-sig-53-ai-personal-support-risky"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/05/employees-are-relying-on-ai-for-personal-support-thats-risky"
sourceTitle: "Employees Are Relying on AI for Personal Support. That’s Risky."
---
# Understanding of Agentic AI

**Prerequisite:** Understanding the difference between basic **generative AI** (text-prompt LLMs) and **agentic AI** — systems capable of taking autonomous action, acting as avatars in meetings, or serving as managers/subordinates.

**Why it matters:** Required to grasp why the threat of AI replacing human social interaction is *escalating* from simple chatbots to autonomous digital coworkers. Without this distinction, the deepening of [[concept-ai-anthropomorphism]] and the depopulation/avatar mechanisms in [[framework-four-risks-ai-relationships]] (and the open question [[question-avatar-team-dynamics]]) lose their force.