Cognitive biases
A Checklist for Manually Verifying an Automated Recommendation
Counters automation bias by providing a structure for human-led verification of system outputs.
Your client may arrive with a conclusion drawn from an automated system, a career aptitude test, performance software, or an online profiler. They might treat the output as an objective truth, even when it feels at odds with their own self-knowledge. This deference to the algorithm can stifle their critical thinking, leading to a major decision that doesn’t truly align with their goals or circumstances.
This directive provides a structure for the client to manually test the recommendation against their own concrete evidence and intuition. It moves them from passive acceptance to active evaluation, helping to identify what is genuinely useful versus what can be disregarded. The client walks away with a decision that is well-reasoned and personally validated, not just system-generated.
A Checklist for Manually Verifying an Automated Recommendation
When an automated system gives you a significant recommendation, use this checklist to verify it manually before acting. Write the recommendation, its source, and the date at the top of this page.
| Check | Verification Question | Notes and Observations |
|---|---|---|
| ☐ | What specific data about you did the system use? Was this data accurate and complete? | |
| ☐ | What assumptions does the system make about your goals, values, or preferences? Are these assumptions correct? | |
| ☐ | What important context or private knowledge is the system missing? | |
| ☐ | What are two alternatives the system did not recommend? Why might they have been overlooked? | |
| ☐ | Does this recommendation conflict with one of your past decisions or a long-term plan? If so, how? | |
| ☐ | What is the most likely negative consequence of following this recommendation? | |
| ☐ | Separate from the system’s logic, what is your own initial reaction to this recommendation? | |
| ☐ | Whose interests does this recommendation primarily serve? (Yours, the platform’s, a third party’s) |
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