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AI & peopleWorking note / 02

Where the bot should stop.

A useful bot has a clear task, a checked output, and a stopping point.

Essay2 min read

“Research this account” sounds like one task. In practice, it can mean finding sources, extracting facts, making a judgment, updating a record, and telling someone what to do.

Those steps deserve separate decisions. A bot that is useful at gathering information has not automatically earned the next action.

Start with the smallest useful task

A bot can follow fixed rules, use AI, or combine both. A notification triggered by a known property value may need no model at all. Reading several sources and preparing a summary is a different kind of work.

An example boundaryAn account-research assistant gathers sources and drafts a summary. It flags uncertain claims and proposes a CRM update. A person checks the evidence and the intended record before that update is applied.

Keeping sources beside the claims helps the reviewer check the output. It also makes “I couldn’t establish this” a usable result, rather than a gap the bot feels obliged to fill.

Connected does not mean decided

APIs connect systems. MCP servers expose tools, resources, and prompts to AI applications; a server may call an API behind the scenes. These connections make capabilities available. They do not decide which actions belong in a particular workflow.

That choice needs to be explicit. Can the assistant read a record, propose a change, or write it? What happens when information is missing, a tool fails, or the result conflicts with an existing value?

Preparing a message and sending it are different actions. So are suggesting a change and applying it. Put the review point at the boundary that matters, and give the person enough context to make the decision.

A small bot with a defined stopping point is easier to understand, check, and improve.