Lesson 855 of 1169
How Good Agents Know When the Job Is Truly Done
A smart agent checks its work and knows when to say 'done!' instead of going forever.
Explorers · Agentic AI · ~3 min read
The big idea
How does an agent know when it's finished? Smart designers give it 'done criteria': 'Stop when you have 5 facts.' 'Stop when the email is sent.' Without these, agents might wander forever.
Some examples
- 'Stop when you have 3 good ideas.'
- 'Stop when the homework is checked.'
- 'Stop when the task is on the calendar.'
- 'Stop when you've answered all 5 questions.'
Try it!
Pick a chore (clean a desk). Define 'done': 'When the desk has nothing on it.' Stop EXACTLY when that's true.
Key terms in this lesson
Practice this safely
Try this with a low-stakes example and a trusted adult nearby. The goal is to notice how AI talks about completion, not to let it make the decision for you.
- 1Ask AI to explain completion in plain language, then underline anything that sounds uncertain or too broad.
- 2Give it one detail from "How Good Agents Know When the Job Is Truly Done" and ask for two possible next steps plus one reason each step might be wrong.
- 3Check done-criteria against a trusted source, teacher, adult, expert, or original document before you use it.
End-of-lesson quiz
Check what stuck
8 questions · Score saves to your progress.
Lesson help
Questions are best handled with a grown-up here.
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