self-directed

Definition

Self-directed means the system chooses its own objectives or curriculum — what to work on next — not merely how to fit data it was handed. That is a stronger condition than unsupervised, which only says labels are absent; a self-directed learner also sets the targets. The term appears in automatic curriculum generation and in agent work where the model proposes tasks for itself and then attempts them.

Explainers using this term

• Paper Explained: Co-Evolution in Agentic Systems — Three Stages Toward Self-Directed EvolutionCo-Evolution in Agentic Systems: Toward Self-Directed Evolution Beyond Human Design