Everyday AI · Module 3

Decide what kind of document work you need

Suggested time: 7 minutes.

Three common requests sound similar but produce different results.

A summary selects the most important information for a stated reader and purpose. It is shorter than its source. Selection is necessary, but the summary must keep conditions that change the meaning of what it includes.

An extraction pulls specified facts into named fields. The fields come from your task, not from whatever happens to be easiest to find. If you request “deadline,” “approver” and “owner,” those are three separate questions. A blank owner field must remain visibly missing even if an approver is named nearby.

A rewrite changes wording, tone or reading difficulty while preserving the intended meaning. A friendlier sentence must not turn a request into approval, a possibility into a promise, or an exception into a general rule.

Snapshot D1 A short approval note

Use this pack only for the examples in this lesson.

• D1.1: Workshop material requests must be received by 15:00 on 9 March 2027. The coordinator will review requests received by this deadline.
• D1.2: Sending a request does not guarantee approval. Requests for more than 20 printed copies also require the venue lead’s approval.
• D1.3: These notes do not identify who places an approved printing order.

For a coordinator checking the approval process, a useful summary is:

“Requests received by 15:00 on 9 March 2027 will be reviewed by the coordinator; submission does not guarantee approval. More than 20 copies also need venue lead approval. The ordering owner is not provided. [D1.1–D1.3]”

A three-field extraction answers a different brief:

• Request receipt deadline: Requests must be received by 15:00 on 9 March 2027. [D1.1]
• Additional approval: More than 20 printed copies also require venue lead approval. [D1.2]
• Printing order owner: Not provided in these notes. [D1.3]

A rewrite of D1.2 could say:

“Your request still needs approval after you send it. If you need more than 20 printed copies, the venue lead must also approve it. [D1.2]”

All three use the same evidence. They answer different tasks.

Why a plausible rewrite can be wrong

Weak rewrite:

“Send your request by 9 March and the coordinator will arrange the printing.”

This loses the time, implies a successful result and assigns the ordering work to the coordinator. None of those changes is justified. The source says the coordinator reviews requests; it does not say the coordinator orders the printing.

A useful brief names both the transformation and its boundaries. “Make this clearer” is weaker than “Rewrite D1.2 in plain language for a requester, preserving both the lack of guaranteed approval and the additional approval above 20 copies.”

Copyable worked prompt

Task: Rewrite the supplied sentence in plain language. Audience and purpose: A fictional workshop requester needs to understand the approval conditions. Constraints: Use only D1.2. Preserve both conditions. Do not imply that sending a request secures approval or that the venue lead replaces the coordinator. Format: One or two sentences, no more than 45 words, ending with [D1.2]. Checks: Compare the rewrite with the source before returning it.

Source text — fictional Snapshot D1 D1.2: Sending a request does not guarantee approval. Requests for more than 20 printed copies also require the venue lead's approval. End of source text Pause and try: Would “20 or more copies need additional approval” preserve D1.2? Explain the difference before checking the answer section.