Negotiated Software Loop
Describes the new contract between user and machine in probabilistic systems: intent, interpretation, suggestion, review, correction, adaptation.
Intent
The user arrives with a goal, often only partially specified; the product treats it as intention, not always as complete instruction.
Interpretation
The system forms a working understanding from the request, context, defaults, history, and available data.
Suggestion
The system proposes an output, action, classification, draft, or next step, framed according to confidence and stakes.
Review
The user evaluates whether the suggestion fits the goal, context, and consequences.
Correction
The user edits, rejects, redirects, accepts, or clarifies what the system produced.
Adaptation
The system changes what it does next based on the correction; the change may be temporary, durable, or global.
What it helps you see
It exposes the negotiation between human intent and machine interpretation, including where review and correction must live.
How to use it
Map an AI-assisted feature against this loop, then write a seam sentence: exact when ____, negotiated when ____, user control when ____.
Use it when
Use this when a system in From Deterministic Software to Negotiated Software interprets, suggests, or adapts instead of simply executing commands.
Practice prompt
Pick one AI-assisted moment and write what happens at each step of the loop. Mark the missing step.
Source chapter
This framework was authored in From Deterministic Software to Negotiated Software. Read the chapter for the full argument and the worked examples that produced this shape.