Keyword Collision: When Simple Rules Misclassify Emails

Keyword Collision is the classic failure mode of rule-based automation: the system sees a keyword and fires the wrong action. For example, “cancel” in “cancel my meeting” triggers a “cancel subscription” workflow. The fix is not to avoid keywords entirely. It’s to combine them with context: sender type, intent detection, subject patterns, and negative conditions. This term is useful for explaining why smarter routing needs layered logic and a feedback loop where users can correct and teach the system.