After automating 11 resale listings with AI, a dev asks where agent autonomy should end
Ok_Appearance_7559 · reddit · 2026-09-16
The author gave an AI system photos of 11 resale products with instructions to identify, research, and draft eBay listings — 10/11 came back usable. That raised the real design question: what should an agent be allowed to decide on its own?
He rejects simple "uncertain → ask human" routing in favor of an escalation chain: uncertain → investigate → cross-check → attempt to falsify its own answer → still uncertain → escalate. The goal is shrinking the human decision surface without producing more confident bullshit.
He notes structured retail items are the easy case; vintage goods, incomplete products, and subjective condition calls will be far harder. He asks practitioners what works best: confidence thresholds, hard rules, multi-pass verification, or a second model checking the first.
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