Action
A behavior of an AI system that directly changes something outside the system itself: a database write, a sent message, a payment, a deletion, a call to another system. Actions are the category of risk agentic AI introduces that generative governance was not built to assess. An action does not have to be a direct tool call a human can see. It can also be indirect: an output that is consumed by another machine, a webhook, an event pipeline, an automation rule, rather than by a person, so that a "draft" nobody read still ends up changing something real one step downstream. Apply the first question of the actions-versus-outputs test (Section 3G) to where the chain actually ends, not to the AI system's own last step.
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 4 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Agentic AI Governance: Applied Mastery.
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
A behavior of an AI system that directly changes something outside the system itself: a database write, a sent message, a payment, a deletion, a call to another system. Actions are the category of risk agentic AI introduces that generative governance was not built to assess. An action does not have to be a direct tool call a human can see. It can also be indirect: an output that is consumed by another machine, a webhook, an event pipeline, an automation rule, rather than by a person, so that a "draft" nobody read still ends up changing something real one step downstream. Apply the first question of the actions-versus-outputs test (Section 3G) to where the chain actually ends, not to the AI system's own last step.
A ROS 2 asynchronous, goal-oriented communication pattern for long-running tasks. A client sends a goal; the server accepts or rejects it, executes the task, publishes periodic feedback, and returns a final result. Supports goal cancellation. Defined by a .action interface file with three sections: goal, result, and feedback.
The component of a robotic system responsible for changing the physical world through actuators. The action must be physical (changing position, force, or physical state of something in the environment) to satisfy the robot definition. Digital outputs that do not drive physical change do not satisfy the action requirement.
A long-running goal-based interaction with three phases: a goal sent by a client, periodic feedback during execution, and a final result. Actions are preemptable. Appropriate for navigation goals, manipulation sequences, and any task that takes more than a fraction of a second and where the caller needs progress updates.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first 7 topics of every program are free with a free account.
- Why Agentic Breaks Generative Governance · Taking the Controls, Agentic AI Governance: Applied Mastery
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.