What is an AI Tool ?

An AI tool, is a piece of code, that an AI knows how to use.

That' a fairly simple sentence to type out, but let's conceptualise it.

When we write code, we create functions which do things, and then we string them together to make a program.

For example the code below adds two numbers together:

def add(x, y):
    """
    Returns the sum of two numbers.
    """
    return x + y

We can then use that piece of code in another piece of code that needs to add numbers together. Imagine the code for an entire calculator. We'll have functions for all the mathematics like subtract, multiply and divide. Then depending on which button you press, we'll just use the appropriate function.

Now this is a fairly trivial example, but you can imagine much more complex functions, like functions which can schedule calendar events, or search for flight tickets, or even update your blog with new information.

If we give the AI (or LLM) a way to use these same functions, they become "AI Tools". AI Tools are just traditional functions, but triggered by an LLM rather than us.

Technically an LLM doesn't "trigger a function", but goes through something called Tool Calling.

AI Tools can also exist on the internet, and your AI can use them through something called MCP.

Now that we've explained what an AI tool is, the original definition should make a lot more sense.

An AI tool, is a piece of code, that an AI knows how to use.