Understand AI and judge an answer
Get a clear picture of what AI does, then learn to check an answer and compare two setups.
A first route for people who want to understand AI, not start by installing it.
Before you begin
No AI background or programming is needed for the reading. A text editor or a sheet of paper is enough for the supplied examples.
What you will be able to explain
Explain the model’s role, check an answer against a source and decide what a small comparison does and does not show.
Read it, then decide what to try.
Follow the explanations and fictional examples without an account or a model. The last article includes an invented comparison you can reason through.
Optional exercises: setup and scope
To run your own comparison, keep the evaluation sheet from step 2. You also need two model configurations you are permitted to use and a way to record elapsed time. The reading does not supply model access.
Start at the beginning, or where you left off.
These three readings take a short route through AI basics. Follow Next in this tour on each article; the full lesson series follows a different order.
No progress is stored. Every reading stays open; bookmark an article’s tour link if you want to return to it.
What AI can and cannot do
Start with the capabilities and the request-to-answer mechanism. No code is needed.
Look for this: Notice when an answer needs a source, a current observation or an actual tool result rather than the model’s language alone.
Read step 1 →Evaluate an AI answer against evidence
Use a fresh fictional export-service note to build the evaluation sheet that the final read needs.
Look for this: Separate supported, contradicted and unsupported claims, then check whether the answer addresses the question.
Read step 2 →Choose a model for the work you need done
Use that answer sheet to compare quality, waiting time, checking effort and constraints.
Look for this: Keep rejected alternatives and unacceptable errors in view. A faster answer is not useful if checking it costs more work.
Read step 3 →
Can you explain the choice?
Use these questions to find your next useful read, not to award yourself a score.
- Separate what a model produces from the tools, information and permissions its application supplies. Revisit the explanation →
- Show which source sentence supports a claim, or identify the evidence that is missing. Revisit the explanation →
- Explain a configuration choice using answer quality, waiting time and checking effort, including what would change your decision. Revisit the explanation →
If you tried the exercises, keep the step 2 answer sheet and your comparison notes together. If you only read the examples, you have examined a method, not measured a product.
A small comparison can choose a next experiment; it does not establish general accuracy or production suitability.