Let AI Teach Me · Hard reading

Have the AI answer only from the source I pasted

A paraphrase drops limiters, exceptions, and definitions that point elsewhere first — and that is the part that costs money.

The line in the memo is one you typed: 72 hours ahead, full refund. You glanced at the source and thought you had the point. The pottery class is 698 yuan, Saturday 3 p.m. You signed up Monday night.

Wednesday 11:10 a.m., your manager says Saturday overtime. 75 hours 50 minutes to class. You ask the AI from the memo: “I am applying 72 hours ahead. Full refund?” It computes what you gave. It says yes.

You thought the paraphrase caught the point: 72 hours is the time gate, full refund is the result. The few words in the middle of the source looked like a shipping update.

Refund rule on the signup pageA full 72 hours before the event, and the kit has not shipped, you may apply for a full refund; if the kit has shipped, deduct 168 yuan materials and return the rest. Refund time is clocked at submit time. The paraphrase in your memoApply 72 hours ahead and you get a full refund.

The kit shipped Tuesday afternoon. Refund lands at 530 yuan. The missing piece is exactly 168 yuan materials. The AI got 75 hours 50 minutes right, and it answered the question you wrote down.

The problem sat one step earlier. When you crushed the long sentence, you kept the number and the result, cut the “and” that joined two conditions, and cut the kit has not shipped. The source needs both. Your version only kept time.

Why the AI answers the wrong question correctly

The AI cannot see the edit in your head. You paste “72 hours ahead, full refund,” and it can only treat that as the rule, then ask whether 72 hours have passed. It gave a correct answer to the wrong question.

Paste the source, and it can see the “and,” the exception, and the clock. It can line the sentences up, name what your paraphrase dropped, and land the conclusion on the sentence that decides the money.

  1. Keep every condition. The “and,” “or,” and “except” around the numbers all enter the context.
  2. Check your reading. Make the AI say which limiter the paraphrase cut, merged, or weakened.
  3. Cite the sentence that decides it. The answer has words you can point at. You can go back to the file yourself.

Same rule — paste the source, or paste a paraphrase. Where do the answers actually split? The two inputs run side by side below.

Try it first · Compare two paste styles
Same event refund rule, two paste styles
What you are about to paste
Switch the paste style, hit Play again, and see what the answer lost.
Refund rule on the event signup page

A full 72 hours before the event, and the kit has not shipped, you may apply for a full refund; if the kit has shipped, deduct 168 yuan materials and return the rest; under 24 hours, no refund. Time is clocked at submit time.

1 · See what you actually pasted
2 · See how far the AI can answer
3 · Then check the refund that lands
What you actually pasted
After Play, the source or your paraphrase shows here.
The answer from these words (teaching demo)
After Play, the AI answer and the actual refund show here.
Pick a paste style, then hit Play to see the whole run.
When a dropped condition costs moneyYour paraphrase lost “the kit has not shipped.” The AI cannot check the refund with it. The 168 yuan gap shows up when the refund lands.
Teaching demo: this refund rule was written for the lesson. It does not match any real event or merchant policy.
Paste these three lines as a block

Paste the source first, then your reading, then pin the answer back to the original sentence. Send the three lines in order. Fill the blanks with what you are reading.

Copy this whole block
  1. Limit the answer firstBelow is the source. Answer only from this text. First list the conditions, exceptions, and time clock that change the conclusion. If the source does not say it, say you cannot tell. Source: ______
  2. Then check my paraphraseI read it as: ______. Compare my paraphrase to the source sentence by sentence. List every limiter I cut, merged, or weakened, and how each one changes the conclusion.
  3. Then cite the words that decide itAnswer my specific question: ______. After the answer, cite the sentence that decides it. In one line, say how the “and,” “or,” “except,” or “which day counts” in that sentence moves the answer.

The key half-sentence in line two is “compare my paraphrase to the source sentence by sentence.” Without it, the AI will happily re-summarize the source. Smoother to read. It will not name what you already cut.

Why that half-sentence in line two is the key

Once you know to paste the source, the easy miss is the check. Ask “what does this mean,” and the AI writes an explanation. Ask it to compare sentence by sentence, and both texts sit on the table. The missing “and the kit has not shipped” gets pointed at.

Paste the source first. Then have the AI audit your paraphrase. The conclusion must bring back the sentence that decides the answer. You get an explanation, and a path to recheck.

Back to the opening rule, the full answer should read: more than 72 hours only meets the first condition; the kit has shipped, so deduct 168 yuan materials, expect 530 yuan back. Someone who never saw the rule can still compute the money from that sentence.

The four steps: the four-step unpack. Harder source, how to chew it: Have the AI pin each claim to the source.

Paste the source. Keep every limiter in the room.