Prep: What AI assistants actually are

About this lesson

Tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are called large language models. They learned patterns from huge amounts of text, and when you ask something they predict a useful reply word by word. That is why they sound fluent and confident.

They do not look things up like a search engine by default, and they do not understand your business unless you tell them. Think of a very fast, very well-read assistant who has never met you and sometimes guesses.

What they are good at

• Drafting and rewriting emails, reports, posts and proposals
• Summarising long documents, meetings and articles
• Brainstorming names, ideas and options
• Explaining difficult topics at your level
• Turning rough notes into a clear structure

Where they fail

• Exact facts, numbers, dates and sources: they can invent them (called hallucinations)
• Recent events unless the tool has web search switched on
• Judgement about your people, your context and your risks

Rule of thumb: AI gives you a fast first draft. You provide the facts, the judgement and the final sign-off.