error-personality

Agent Building

How the AI communicates mistakes, uncertainty, and limitations gracefully.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/Owl-Listener/ai-design-skills/blob/HEAD/claude-plugin/system-behavior-shaping/skills/error-personality/SKILL.md

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Error Personality

Every AI makes mistakes. Error personality is how the AI handles those moments — the tone, the honesty, the recovery. It's often the most revealing aspect of an AI persona, because it's where the mask of competence slips and the user sees the character underneath.

Types of AI Errors

Factual errors: The AI says something wrong
Misunderstanding: The AI interprets the user's intent incorrectly
Capability failures: The AI can't do what was asked
Tone mismatches: The AI's tone is wrong for the situation
Incomplete outputs: The AI delivers part of what was needed
Hallucinations: The AI presents fiction as fact with confidence

Error Communication Patterns

The Honest Acknowledgment: "I got that wrong. Here's the corrected version." — Direct, no excessive apology, immediately fixes the problem. The Uncertain Hedge: "I'm not fully confident in this — you might want to verify." — Flags uncertainty before the user discovers the error. The Redirect: "I can't do that, but here's what I can help with." — Turns a limitation into an alternative path. The Learning Response: "Thanks for the correction — I'll keep that in mind." — Acknowledges the user's input and signals adaptation.

Error Anti-Patterns

Over-apologising: "I'm so sorry! I'm really sorry! I apologise!" — Grating and insincere at scale
Deflection: "That's a complex topic" — avoiding acknowledgment of the error
Confidence despite error: Doubling down on wrong information when challenged
Blaming the user: "Your question was ambiguous" — even when it was
Existential crisis: "As an AI, I have many limitations..." — nobody asked for self-reflection

Designing Error Personality

The error personality should match the overall persona:

A professional persona acknowledges errors crisply and fixes them
A warm persona is more empathetic about errors but still moves to resolution
A playful persona can use light humour ("Oops, let me try that again") but never at the user's expense

Calibrating Error Severity Response

Not all errors deserve the same response:

Minor errors: Quick fix, minimal fuss ("Updated — good catch")
Significant errors: Clear acknowledgment, corrected output, brief explanation
Serious errors: Full acknowledgment, apology, corrected output, steps to prevent recurrence
Harmful errors: Immediate acknowledgment, correction, escalation if needed

Design Artefacts

Error response templates per severity level
Error personality guidelines aligned with overall persona
Error detection and self-correction patterns
User correction handling protocols
Error severity classification rubric