Definition
Plain language
How much of an AI's work has been locked into a particular interpretation, so that a later correction can only fix what hasn't yet been built.
As stated in the literature
In long-horizon agent analysis, the fraction of an agent's actions that are causally locked into a specific interpretation of underspecified inputs at a given trajectory position, bounding the value of subsequent clarification.
Why it matters: It quantifies why late clarifications are nearly worthless in long agent runs and argues for asking the right questions early.
For example, by the time a coding agent has written 500 lines assuming the user wanted a CLI tool, asking 'did you mean a web app?' can only fix the parts not yet built.
Heard on the show
“… The instruction is unambiguous, the verbal commitment is explicit, and the behavioral compliance is zero — because batching is faster, the summaries …”Episode 020 — The Compliance Gap: Why AI Says Yes and Does No