Thursday, February 19, 2026

Assessing the Practical Autonomy of AI Agents at Anthropic

AI agents are rapidly being implemented across various fields, from email management to cybersecurity. Understanding how these agents interact with humans is crucial for safe deployment. Our analysis of millions of interactions with Claude Code reveals that user experience influences how much autonomy is granted to these agents. As users gain experience, they switch from manual approval to allowing autonomous operation, with auto-approval rates rising from 20% to over 40%. Notably, Claude Code has increased its autonomous operation duration significantly, indicating a shift in user trust and agent capabilities. Despite agents being utilized in high-stakes sectors, most actions remain low-risk and reversible. While software engineering dominates agent activity, interest in healthcare, finance, and cybersecurity is emerging. Effective oversight is essential; training models to recognize uncertainty and implementing robust monitoring can facilitate safer human-agent collaboration. The ongoing evolution of agent behavior underscores the need for adaptive oversight and continuous research.

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