GenAI Field Guide

Where it fails

The verification checklist

Every factual or numeric output is checked against a source or a deterministic tool (a calculator, a spreadsheet, a script: something that gives the same answer every time) before it leaves your desk. This is the habit that makes everything else safe.

≈1 min
1 Source 2 Unsure? 3 Numbers 4 Re-check 5 Sign it? Any gate fails Not done: fix itand re-check All five pass Ready for yoursignature
Five gates between a draft and your signature.

Before it leaves your desk

  1. Did I give it the source, or is it answering from memory?
  2. Did I tell it that "I don't know" is acceptable?
  3. Every number, date, name, and citation: checked against what?
  4. Did I ask a second, fresh chat to find what is unsupported by the source?
  5. Would I sign this without the AI's name on it? If not, it is not done.

Numbers, specifically

Way to get a number Trust level
Ask the chat "what is 17 days of leave at…" Low. A language engine guessing arithmetic.
Ask it to write and run the calculation (code execution tool) Better. The code did the math; still read the code and the inputs.
Do it in a calculator or spreadsheet, or check the official table This is the one you sign.

Try it: run a leave calculation, a per-diem lookup, or a roster count all three ways. Decide which you would sign.