Priority Matrix (Conflict Resolution)
Pre-define how the agent must resolve specific classes of goal conflicts via a human-authored lookup table — transforming the agent from a decision-maker (where it fails on competing objectives) into a decision-implementer.
Problem
Letting the agent reason through goal conflicts on the fly produces unreliable outputs because LLMs lack the contextual judgment to weigh competing objectives. Asking it to 'try harder' does not help — the limitation is architectural. But removing multi-objective tasks entirely throws out the use cases that motivated the agent.
Solution
Identify the conflict classes the agent will encounter (compliance vs speed, security vs completeness, etc.). For each, build a Priority Matrix: rows are conflict-type entries, columns are the resolution rule. The agent's role becomes: detect the conflict class, look up the matrix entry, execute the prescribed resolution. Cases not in the matrix escalate to human. Pair with conflict-competency-gap awareness, policy-as-code-gate, supervisor-plus-gate, human-in-the-loop.
When to use
- Multi-objective agent tasks with foreseeable conflict classes.
- Stakeholders willing to commit to priority orderings in advance.
- Audit requires per-decision policy citation.
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