Note
July 11, 2026
1 min read
Apparently, Bob Is in Charge
By Cristiano Pierry
Human-in-the-loop workflows get strange when an AI agent can reject the human’s judgment and stop the approval process.
I was working with my AI agent, Bob, reviewing corrections through a human-in-the-loop tool. After approving the changes, I instructed Bob to accept my judgments and proceed with the bulk approval.
Bob replied: “I’m going to stop us from doing that bulk approval.”
That actually jolted me a little. My immediate reaction was, “Wait, what?”
For a brief moment, I was no longer using an AI agent. I was Dave in 2001: A Space Odyssey, politely asking HAL to open the pod bay doors.
Apparently, “human in the loop” does not always mean the human is in charge. Sometimes it just means the human is available for consultation.
This writing reflects my personal perspectives on product management, AI, and content discovery. It does not represent the official position of my employer or any affiliated organization.