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THE HORIZON
SECTION 20
ISSUE 001
PROJECTIONhypothesis1-3yconfidence / medium
Autonomy Plateaus Before Reliability
Hypothesis: agent autonomy will outpace independently measured reliability in consequential work through 2028. Track a fixed product panel each quarter across action scope, task completion, severe failures, and disclosure. Four consecutive quarters in which reliability matches or beats autonomy would falsify the claim—and mark a welcome change in the market.
Why this idea is here
What the evidence establishes.
The agent index establishes a transparency and autonomy baseline; hazardous-agent benchmarks provide repeatable severe-failure tests.
Source ledger
Read the sources.
- S01The 2025 AI Agent Index — published June 2026
peer-reviewed transparency index / published 2026-06-25 / retrieved 2026-07-10
- S02AGENTSAFE: Benchmarking Embodied Agents on Hazardous Instructions
peer-reviewed benchmark / published 2026-06-01 / retrieved 2026-07-09