Isn't this a bit of an incorrect usage of the term "backpressure"?
OP quoted the correct definition right at the start:
> In systems engineering, backpressure is the mechanism by which a downstream component signals upstream that it can't accept more work
(the "downstream component" being the human reviewer in this case)
But the measures they propose don't actually do that. They are more like fixed throttle elements which would slow down the rate of submissions of an agent and weed out some low-quality submissions before hitting "downstream".
I'm missing the connection to the actual capacity (or will) that the human developers have to review the submissions.
Author here. Well noted. I do think backpressure might not be the ideal analogy/term.
It comes from previous posts I’ve come across, but I haven’t considered exactly what you mentioned. That’s on me.
lol your comment sounds like a Claude apology
I had a colleague called Claude. Half of the company was blaming everything on him...
Honestly? The point lands.
[dead]
It is an incorrect use of what was already a flawed metaphor. Pressure is isotropic. Directed pressure makes no sense, like all other fluid analogies in unrelated fields of engineering.
Wait so cross ventilation, where a breeze will flow through a house if windows are open on opposite sides at a much greater rate than if windows are only open on the upwind side… isn’t really a thing?
I took the analogy to be about the location of the pressure and not the direction. If you allow pressure to build on the input pipe when you can't accept more, the component that is upstream in the flow is able to observe that and respond. Maybe the difference is I envisioned a series of pipes and not a single one.
The act of "making pressure" means applying a force and is completely directional.