What Are Multi-Agent Systems

One AI is Good. A Team of AIs is Better.

You've used ChatGPT — one AI doing one task at a time. But real work involves multiple steps, each requiring different expertise.

Multi-agent systems solve this by creating a TEAM of AI agents, each with a specific role, working together.

The analogy: If one AI is like a solo entrepreneur, multi-agent AI is like a company with departments — Research, Writing, Review, Publishing — each handled by a specialist.

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What is CrewAI?

CrewAI is an open-source Python framework for building multi-agent AI systems. You define:

• Agents — Who is on the team (each with a role, goal, and backstory)
• Tasks — What needs to be done (specific assignments)
• Crew — How they work together (the team configuration)

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Real-World Example

Task: Write a market research report on AI adoption in healthcare.

Single AI approach: Ask ChatGPT to do everything. Result is okay but surface-level.

CrewAI approach:

• Agent 1 (Researcher): Searches the web, finds 20 sources, extracts key data
• Agent 2 (Analyst): Analyzes the research, identifies trends, creates insights
• Agent 3 (Writer): Turns the analysis into a professional report
• Agent 4 (Reviewer): Reviews the report for accuracy, clarity, and completeness

Result: Much better than a single AI because each step is handled by a specialist.

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When to Use Multi-Agent Systems

Use CrewAI when a task:

• Has multiple distinct steps
• Requires different types of expertise
• Benefits from review and iteration
• Is too complex for a single prompt

Don't use CrewAI for: Simple questions, single-step tasks, anything ChatGPT handles well on its own.

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Next up: Lesson 2 — Installing CrewAI and Building Your First Crew.