What AI is
Practise reliable habits: spreadsheet formula
Before relying on a system, name its task, test, owner, and stop condition.
1Learn the idea
Read
The TASK check
See it
Fits
- Suggest reply
- Flag odd purchase
- Draft from bullets
Not by itself
- Spreadsheet formula
- Doorbell circuit
- “Smart” ad copy
Fits = smart tasks · Not AI by itself = fixed rules
- Task: What exact job is the system allowed to do?
- Assessment: What representative evidence would show acceptable performance?
- Steward: Who monitors and corrects it?
- Kill switch: What observation pauses use?
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Worked example
For a chatbot answering opening-hours questions, Mira records:
- Task: answer only from the published hours page.
- Assessment: 40 questions covering branches, holidays, ambiguity, and missing information; all dates and times must match the page.
- Steward: digital services lead checks weekly samples and corrections.
- Kill switch: any invented closure or repeated failure to say “I cannot find that.”
This does not guarantee perfection. It makes the claim testable and gives errors a route to action.
Read
Guided practice
Apply TASK to a spreadsheet formula that totals room-booking fees. The assessment can use hand-calculated cases. Notice that the same discipline helps whether or not the tool is labelled AI.
Read
Independent transfer
Create a TASK card for one system in your life. Use a threshold you could actually observe; “works well” is not a threshold. Ask another person to identify one missing edge case.
Related lessons
Check your understanding
Page assessment
Answer from memory. Completion is saved from this evidence, not from opening the next page.
Which part of TASK prevents a pilot from continuing after known harmful errors?
All responses are required.