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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.

  1. S01
    The 2025 AI Agent Index — published June 2026

    peer-reviewed transparency index / published 2026-06-25 / retrieved 2026-07-10

  2. S02
    AGENTSAFE: Benchmarking Embodied Agents on Hazardous Instructions

    peer-reviewed benchmark / published 2026-06-01 / retrieved 2026-07-09

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