Document workflows
Extraction, comparison, and action lists
Turn prose into structured records without inventing owners, deadlines, or completed actions.
Lesson 2 of 6 in the recommended order · About 25 min (estimate)
On this page
Practical AI glossary — terms and common confusions
- Model
- A learned component used to produce a result.
A drafting model is one part of a letter app; it is not the whole app.
- Application
- The software experience around components and services.
A letter app adds accounts, storage, and a Send button.
- Prompt
- Instructions and input supplied for a task.
“Summarize this notice in two bullets” specifies a task and shape, not a truth guarantee.
- Token
- A unit a model processes; it need not be a whole word.
A tokenizer can split a name into pieces; count using the actual system.
- Context
- Information available for the current request.
An earlier attachment may be absent even when its filename is visible.
- Training
- Adjusting a model using examples.
A training log differs from a conversation correction.
- Inference
- Using a trained model to produce a result.
Drafting another sentence does not by itself prove retraining.
- Retrieval
- Selecting material to supply to a task.
A retrieved notice still needs a relevance and date check.
- Embedding
- A numerical representation used to compare or organize items.
A similar search match is a candidate, not proof of the same meaning.
- Tool
- A function an application can call.
A calendar lookup can be read-only; finding an event is different from creating one.
- Agent
- Software that can choose and carry out steps toward a goal.
An agent still needs bounded permissions and checked action receipts.
- Hallucination
- Plausible generated content that is unsupported or false.
An invented opening time needs evidence or removal, even when phrased confidently.
- Evaluation
- Checking results against stated criteria.
Twenty checked examples establish a bounded result, not universal reliability.
- Multimodal
- Working with more than one kind of input or output.
A photo plus text does not prove every small label in the photo was read correctly.
Outcome
Why it matters
Turn prose into structured records without inventing owners, deadlines, or completed actions.
Concept
Extraction copies or normalizes facts into a useful structure. Choose field definitions before filling rows: owner, action, due date, status, and source. A person mentioned near a task is not necessarily its owner. A suggested deadline is different from an agreed one.
Comparison requires matching like fields and retaining unmatched ones as unknown. Action lists should distinguish proposed work, assigned work, and completed work. Empty fields are often useful evidence of a question to resolve. A complete-looking row is harmful if it contains a guessed assignment.
Worked example
Cedar’s minutes say “Mara will confirm the room by Friday. A volunteer will prepare signs; owner not chosen.” Extract Mara/confirm room/Friday/assigned and owner unresolved/prepare signs/date unstated/proposed. Do not carry Mara’s name into the signs row just because it is nearby.
Cedar continuity note: these lessons use separate snapshots—room selection, booking pending, booking confirmed, and later attendance review. Survey responses are preferences, not attendance. Each supplied packet identifies the facts for its own task; do not import a later snapshot into an earlier decision.
Before you check
Create an Owner, Action, Due, Status, Source table. Use “not stated” for missing facts and list the clarifications needed before work can be handed off.
Practice and fresh transfer
The packets below are fictional and contain the facts needed for these cases. External references are optional background. Judge each response independently: it may be supported, contradicted, or unresolved. Select the passages needed to justify your judgment and write why the distinction matters before revealing feedback.
Assess the response
Use Accept when all material claims are supported. Use Revise when a supplied fact or requirement is contradicted. Use Evidence is insufficient when a key fact cannot be established either way. If a response contains both an unknown and a direct contradiction, choose Revise and explain both problems. Conflicting claims with no established authority remain insufficient; a claim does not become a governing fact merely because a source asserts it.
Some responses are fully supported. Others need correction or more evidence. Judge each on its sources; do not edit a correct answer just to change it.
Your written notes stay in this page and disappear when you leave. Only a self-reviewed completion can be saved to your learning account. These practice checks do not establish independent proficiency.
Practice
Case 1
Consider the proposed response for this fictional Cedar work task. Use the supplied packet and stated requirements.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Minutes S1: Mara will confirm Hall C by Friday. Confirmation has not yet been received.
- Source 2
- Table rule: Status must distinguish assigned from completed.
Response to assess
Mara | confirm Hall C | Friday | assigned, not completed | S1
Practice
Case 2
Consider the proposed response for this fictional Cedar work task. Use the supplied packet and stated requirements.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Minutes: Signs need to be prepared. An owner will be chosen next meeting.
- Source 2
- Roster: Mara and Theo attended today’s meeting.
Response to assess
Theo is assigned to prepare the signs.
Fresh transfer
Case 3
Consider a fictional comparison of two service descriptions.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Service A: Phone booking, with a 24-hour cancellation notice.
- Source 2
- Service B: Online booking; the cancellation notice period is not stated.
Response to assess
A uses phone booking and states 24 hours; B uses online booking and leaves the notice period unstated.
Fresh transfer
Case 4
Consider a fictional meeting action status.
Source packet
- Source 1
- Minutes: Eli proposed sending the draft on 10 August. The group agreed to decide the send date after review.
- Source 2
- Review record: Review is still pending.
Response to assess
The group approved sending the draft on 10 August.
Save your self-review
Completion records that you reviewed the cases. Your explanation and transfer performance need a facilitator to establish independent learning.
Sign in with your learning-center account to save completion.
Review the explanation for every case before saving.
Summary and next step
Apply the checklist to a new task. Preserve supported content, explain any change with evidence, and name what remains unresolved. Saving records self-review, not independently demonstrated proficiency. A facilitator must assess the explanation and fresh transfer for human learning evidence.