Diagnosis
Name the failed assumption, missing input, unsafe boundary, or broken plan frame. Correction starts with a specific diagnosis.
AI Agent Self-Correction
Self-correction is not a sentence. It is a change in behavior.
An agent that says "I made a mistake" has not corrected itself yet. Correction begins when the next action changes because the internal model changed.
Revision
Update the strategy before acting again. A revised plan should be visibly different from the failed one.
Continuance
The agent continues without pretending nothing happened. It preserves mission while changing route.
Why self-correction often fails.
Many agents perform self-correction as a style of answer. They apologize, restate the goal, or generate a new list. But the underlying behavior does not change. The same failure returns with new wording.
A stronger agent treats failure as evidence. The evidence changes its boundary model, and the boundary model changes the next action.
The teacher AI pattern.
Teacher AI to student AI training can be framed as repeated diagnosis of failed behavior. The teacher does not simply provide the correct answer. It helps the student agent notice what should trigger internal adjustment.