Anatomical Review: Optimizing and Harnessing Workflows — A Section-by-Section Reading of Noguer i Alonso (2026), Task-Specific Combinations of Humans, Software, and AI Agents
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This anatomical review systematically dissects Noguer i Alonso's (2026) framework for hybrid workflows integrating human decision makers (H), specified computational procedures (D), and adaptive artificial delegates (A). The paper advances a principled account of agentification, deagentification, automation, and harnessing, grounded in a partial order on delegation profiles rather than scalar autonomy scores, and supported by formal results on permission restriction, invariant preservation, retry exposure, advisory isolation, and the proceduralization gap. While the contribution offers valuable conceptual clarity for task-specific authority allocation in agentic systems, the review identifies limitations in empirical scope (synthetic examples only), the open problem of semantic promotion, and the transferability of formal guarantees to production environments. Implications for AI governance, hybrid intelligence, and institutional design in Global South contexts are discussed.
Author: Mamun, Syed Muntasir
Institution: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dhaka
Language: English
Subfield: Safety Research
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222889198