Mark inferred rules unconfirmed, and keep them read-only until a person confirms them
A system can infer relationships from existing data — implicit orderings baked into config — that look plausible but were never confirmed by a domain expert. Mark such inferences explicitly unconfirmed and keep any automation that would act on them read-only until a domain expert actually confirms them, rather than letting the inference stand in.
Pujan Motiwala ·
Context
A system can infer relationships or rules from existing data — implicit orderings baked into configuration, patterns that look consistent across records — without those relationships ever having been confirmed by someone who actually knows the business.
Decision
Explicitly mark such inferences as unconfirmed, and keep any automation that would act on them in a read-only or advisory state until a domain expert actually confirms them. Building the enforcing version of that automation is deliberately deferred.
Why
An inferred rule that turns out wrong, and is already gating real users' actions, is worse than having no rule at all — it fails confidently instead of failing obviously.
Trade-off
Slower to get automated enforcement live, and it requires someone to actually do the confirmation step rather than letting the inference quietly stand in for it indefinitely.
Seen in practice
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