What makes a comprehension check safe to use?#
Three rules. The person can challenge it. It produces no score. And it never feeds performance management: once a check affects appraisals, people learn to pass it and it stops measuring understanding. The model is the readback: the FAA asks pilots to read back key parts of clearances as a means of mutual verification.
What happens when a check reveals a gap?#
The first assumption is that the explanation failed. The delta may have described the wrong change, or pitched it at the wrong level. The system explains differently or rebuilds the state, and comprehension engineering learns from the miss.
Explanations can raise acceptance of AI recommendations whether or not they are correct, which is why the check exists. Checks reduce overreliance, but there is no evidence yet that they improve decisions, and they help the most careful people most.