Checking an Agent's Work
Imagine your teacher asks you to do an art project. You work hard on it all afternoon. Before you hand it in, what do you do? You look it over one more time! You check that your name is on it, that everything looks the way you wanted, that nothing is missing. Checking your own work before handing it in is a great habit. And checking your agent's work before trusting it is just as important — maybe even more important, because the agent is doing the work, not you.
The Check-Before-You-Trust Rule
Here is a rule that every good agent boss follows: never trust the agent's work without looking it over first. This does not mean the agent did a bad job. It might have done a great job! But you will not know until you check. If an agent writes an email for you, read the whole email before you send it. If an agent makes a list of books for you, look through the list before you use it. If an agent books an appointment, double-check the date and time yourself. A quick check takes only a moment — and it can save you from a big mix-up.
Always look over what an agent did before you trust it, send it, or use it. A quick check is one of the most powerful habits a good agent boss can have.
Let us meet Marcus. Marcus asked his AI agent to write a message to his soccer coach explaining that he would miss practice on Friday. The agent wrote a very polite message. But when Marcus read it, he noticed two problems: the agent said he was missing practice on Thursday — wrong day! And the agent gave the reason as a dentist appointment, but Marcus was actually going to his cousin's birthday party. Because Marcus checked before sending, he caught both mistakes. He fixed them in about thirty seconds and then sent the correct message. If Marcus had just clicked send without reading, his coach would have gotten the wrong information. Checking saved the day!
Flashcards — click each card to reveal the answer
What to Look For When You Check
Not every check is the same. What you look for depends on what the agent did. Here are some helpful questions to ask yourself: Are the facts right? Did the agent get the names, dates, and numbers correct? Does it make sense? Does the work fit what you actually needed, or is it solving a slightly different problem? Is anything missing? Did the agent forget an important detail? Does it sound right? If the agent wrote something for you to say, does it sound like something you would actually say? Would I be comfortable if someone else saw this? Before you send or share anything an agent made, imagine your parent or teacher seeing it. Are you comfortable with it? If the answer to all those questions is yes — great! The agent did a good job. If the answer to any is no, fix it before moving forward.
Are the facts right? Does it make sense? Is anything missing? Does it sound right? Would I be comfortable if someone else saw it? If yes to all five — you are good to go!
Match each checking question to what it is looking for.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Marcus's agent wrote a message with the wrong day and the wrong reason for missing practice. What saved him from sending bad information to his coach?
Which of these is the best thing to do after an agent writes an email for you?
The Checking Game
- In this game, you will practice the skill of checking carefully.
- Ask a grown-up or friend to write a short paragraph pretending to be an AI agent completing a task for you. The task: write a message to your teacher explaining why you love your favorite subject.
- But the writer should sneak in TWO mistakes — a wrong subject name and one made-up detail about you.
- Now YOU be the boss and check the work! Read it carefully and find both mistakes.
- Once you find them, rewrite the message with the correct information.
- Talk about it: how did it feel to find the mistakes? How does this practice help you be a better agent boss?