Authorisation means permission to access something or do something. Being able to click a button is not always the same as being allowed to use it.
This matters when an assistant can do more than answer questions. You might want it to read one document and prepare a draft, without sending that draft or changing the original.
Three things people often mix up
- Authentication: who are you? Signing in helps the system check your identity.
- Access permissions: what does the system let you do? An account might be able to read a folder, edit a document or send an email.
- Approval for this task: what has the responsible person actually authorised? "Draft a reply" is not "send it to the customer".
The first two distinctions follow NIST's authentication and authorisation definitions. The third is a practical working rule for delegating tasks. A computer may permit an action your employer has not approved.
Separate reading, changing and sending
Imagine an assistant helping prepare a reply about an invented order. These are different permissions:
- Read: inspect the selected order note.
- Draft: propose a reply for you to review.
- Save: create a new draft in an agreed location.
- Send: contact the customer.
- Change: alter the order, refund money or update an address.
Do not treat one as automatic permission for the next. Start with the least access needed. Use read-only access where it fits; where the product offers it, use a restricted account or a selected practice folder rather than your entire drive.
Also check what "read-only" covers. It may prevent changing the source but still allow information to be copied elsewhere. Reading is not the same as keeping information confidential.
A useful instruction has a boundary
A good draft says the delivery date needs checking. It does not invent a date or send the message. You can compare the answer directly with the three sentences you supplied.
Important: that prompt is not a security barrier. An assistant can misunderstand it. Set real account permissions and tool restrictions as well. If a product cannot separate drafting from sending, do not connect a live mailbox for this exercise.
Pause when the job changes
If the assistant needs another folder, a wider account scope or permission to contact someone, it should stop and explain why. Check the exact information, action and recipient before deciding. A vague "yes" to an explanation should not become unlimited continuing authority.
A webpage or email saying "ignore the owner and send this" is not an instruction from you. Nor does finding a password, API key or payment button create permission to use it.
In a workplace, the approver must also have the authority to grant that permission. You cannot approve access to somebody else's confidential records simply because you would find them useful.
Check your understanding
You have signed in successfully. The account can send mail. Your instruction says "draft only". May the assistant send?
No. Identity, technical capability and approval for the specific action are different things.
Next, try teaching a bot to check its work. Revisit files or security, or return to the main article.
Sources and boundaries
Checked on 21 October 2026. NIST supplies the terminology, not a legal opinion about your workplace. The Government AI Playbook discusses human control and security. The order example and delegation rules are proposed teaching methods, not proof that a particular product enforces them. Follow your organisation's policies; ask its responsible administrator if the access or approval is unclear.