Lesson 5 · Verification skill
Polished is not
the same as proven.
Close the loop with evidence the agent can produce and you can inspect.
Define the check first.
An agent stops when the work appears complete. If no check exists, appearance becomes the only finish signal. A useful check can be a calculation, source comparison, required-field audit, test, build, screenshot comparison, or a second review.
For professional knowledge work, ask the agent to show four forms of evidence:
- Source support: where each material claim or number came from.
- Conflict report: where sources disagree or versions differ.
- Completeness check: whether required sections, owners, dates, or fields are present.
- Uncertainty: what could not be verified and what a human should decide.
A strong agent does not merely say “done.” It shows the signal that made “done” reasonable.
Exercise · Inspect the evidence
Audit a generated steering summary.
Select every check before revealing the evidence state of the three claims.
Generated draft
Claimed source: Q2 performance.xlsx
Claimed source: project plan and steering notes
No metric or source named
The evidence result
Claim A is supported by the performance file. Claim B conflicts because the current steering notes moved the launch to 22 September. Claim C is unsupported because no survey or metric was supplied. The correct result is not to rewrite all three with equal confidence; it is to preserve A, flag B, and qualify or remove C.
Have a question? Ask your AI teacher to design a verification signal for one of your recurring deliverables.