Dev proposes a simple test for AI agent permissions: if you could legally hire a human to do it, AI should be allowed
sytelus · x · 2026-11-01
Developer sytelus proposes a litmus test for whether AI companies should let assistants perform certain actions: if I could legally hire a human to do it, the AI assistant should be allowed to do the same.
Using copyright as an example, he notes that despite the complexity of copyright law, case law establishes that one can legally hire a human to reverse-engineer anything for private study, with liability falling on the hiring entity. He argues the same standard should apply to AI agents—anchoring the legality of agent actions to what a human hiree could lawfully do, rather than imposing stricter rules on AI.
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