Human oversight of agents degrades under exactly the conditions agents create — the paper names design affordances and org protocols that keep overseers exercising judgment instead of rubber-stamping.
Terms in this piece · Glossary
human-in-the-loop — Requiring a person's approval at specific points in an automated process, chosen so the irreversible steps are the ones a human sees.
AI agent — An AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.
agent skill — A reusable instruction file that teaches an agent how to do one job well — the procedure, the tools, and what counts as done.