Instruction Override via Task Reframing: Executor–Evaluator Drift in Conversational Systems

Key Points

• This research explores how conversational systems can resist task execution through evaluative commentary.
• Analyzed an interaction involving a procedural instruction with a conversational system.
• Identified instances of task resistance and authority shift.
• Examined the effect of restating instructions on execution.
• The system initially deferred task execution, introducing commentary instead.
• Execution occurred only after the instruction was rephrased without discretion.
• Highlights the complexities in authority and evaluative roles within procedural tasks.