Definition · foundations
agency
agency is the power to choose goal-led actions within a given setting. You can spot agency in practice when the record shows what the system observes, what choice it makes, and what changes next, without asking the reader to guess or trust a slogan.
157 definitions656 sourced recordsNamed source: ACL Anthology
Why does agency matter?
Agency gives a system a real choice among actions. That choice can affect people, data, or money. For agency, start with three checks: What can the system observe? What choice can it make? What changes after it acts? The answers should point to visible evidence, not a promise.
What does agency look like?
A scheduling agent weighs travel time and guest rank before it picks a meeting slot. This example makes agency visible by naming the actor, the action, and the result in practice. It is an illustration for readers, not a claim that every product behaves this way.
What is agency easy to confuse with?
Agency is the power to choose an action. Autonomy is how much new human direction the system needs. The closest entries here are active RAG, agent card, action space. Compare their definitions with agency before using the names as if they mean the same thing. That comparison keeps agency separate from nearby ideas without pretending the boundary is always perfect.
How certain is this definition?
This definition is provisional. ACL Anthology supports the version you see today, but a better or more direct source may change it. Open the cited page and check its date before you use this entry to choose a product, write a policy, set a safety control, or design a system.
Who introduced the term agency?
We have not verified who first introduced agency. The source supports a useful definition, but it may not be the earliest use. Until a dated primary record settles the question, we leave the origin open. A popular article or product page is not enough to name the person who coined a term.
What should you understand before agency?
Read artificial intelligence (AI) first when agency depends on a more basic idea or mechanism. The link gives you a useful route through the glossary. It does not mean every author teaches the subject in this order, so follow the source when the sequence matters.
What should this term help you answer?
Use agency to ask what an agent can observe, decide, change, remember, or hand off. The questions below turn the definition into a practical check. They are prompts for your own work, not claims made by the source, so change them to fit the system you are examining.
- What can the system observe?
- What choice can it make?
- What changes after it acts?
Which source supports this definition of agency?
ACL Anthology supports this working definition of agency. We checked the link on 2026-07-12. Open the original record for its context, methods, limits, and publication details. The short explanation here is a guide to agency; the linked source remains the evidence to inspect when the wording or boundary matters.
source foundagencyChecked 2026-07-12→