My AI agents sent emails without my OK. This simple prompt stops it

But after using the “ask before acting” prompt, both ChatGPT and Claude were far more cautious, even after I’d replied “continue” to an initial “do you approve?” message. “I haven’t submitted the form, because you told me ‘continue’ doesn’t count as approval,” Claude Cowork said.

Now, it’s worth noting what is allowed under the “ask before acting” prompt, including “reading,” “searching,” and “drafting.” For example, both ChatGPT and Claude were still able to poke around the web under the prompt’s rules, and they also reorganized messy directories filled with synthetic data (although they didn’t delete anything, not even duplicate files). 

It’s also worth saying that the “ask before asking” prompt won’t necessarily guarantee an AI agent won’t ever go rogue. Agent and AI assistant harnesses like ChatGPT Work, Claude Cowork, and Meta Muse have their own sets of system prompts, and the more prompts there are, the easier it is for the AI to get confused or start making inferences.

But if nothing else, the “ask before acting” prompt serves as a reminder that when you reply “continue,” “go ahead,” “proceed,” or give another vague response to an AI agent, you’re basically saying “do what you think is best,” and that could pretty much mean anything.