Ai-Literacy on The Augmented Scholar

AI Agents Explained: LLM + Tools + Memory Loop

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

AI Agents Explained — Why Your LLM Isn’t Actually “Doing” Anything (Yet)

You’ve probably used ChatGPT to draft an email or Claude to summarize a paper. You ask, it answers. Simple, right? But here’s what most people miss: that’s not an agent—that’s just a chatbot.

Tool Calling Explained: Turn Your LLM into an AI Agent

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tool Calling Explained — How to Turn Your LLM into an AI Agent That Actually Does Things

Out-of-the-box LLMs can’t check your calendar, pull live weather data, or query your database. They’re brilliant conversationists trapped in a sensory deprivation chamber, completely isolated from the real world. The result? You get impressive prose about what to do, but zero ability to actually do it.

What is RAG? Retrieval Augmented Generation Explained

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

RAG Explained — How to Give Your LLM a Memory Without Retraining

You’ve probably noticed that ChatGPT doesn’t know about events from last week, or that your company’s fine-tuned model can’t answer questions about your internal documentation. Most people assume the solution is retraining the model with new data—an expensive, time-consuming process requiring GPU clusters and ML expertise.

How AI Actually Works: A Plain-Language Guide for Researchers Who Don't Code

Sun, 15 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

“AI will replace researchers” says one headline. “AI is useless and makes things up” says another.

Both are wrong, and the reason most people hold one of these extreme views is that they don’t have a working mental model of what AI tools actually are.