Build your first AI workflow: lesson 4 of 10

Checks, and What Good Looks Like

A check is a plain question asked about a step’s result, one that can come back no. Put one after any step where a mistake would cost you, and decide what a no leads to: another try, or a stop and a flag.

The stepThe checkNext stepNot good:try again
The step
A step hands back its work.

Four Kinds of Checks

  1. 1Compare to the sourceNumbers, names and quotes must match what you gave it. This is the most useful check for facts, and a rule can run it with no AI at all.
  2. 2ChecklistYes or no items: is every part there, in the right shape, with nothing left blank?
  3. 3Scoring guideWrite down what meets the bar and what does not, for a quality such as clear or complete, then rate the work against it with the evidence.
  4. 4A person looksThe points where your judgment has to come in: tone, risk, a call only you can make. The workflow stops and asks.

Pick the Kind of Check

Each check below asks one question. Pick the kind of check that fits it.

  1. 1

    Does every figure in the summary appear in the report?

  2. 2

    Does the email have a subject line, a greeting, one clear request and a closing?

  3. 3

    How well does the opening paragraph explain the problem to a reader who knows nothing about it?

  4. 4

    Is this wording right for a family that has just lost a relative?

0 of 4 answered.

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Go Deeper

Checks, the part guideThe four kinds of check, with the real checks from a template.Watch a check runSee a template check a draft, one check at a time.Build a checkTurn “make sure it is right” into a check anyone can run.