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General AI

Context and data

Reference only. Project progress and credentials come from assessed work.

AI can only work responsibly with the information it is allowed to use. Choosing context is part of the task, not an administrative step before it.

What context means

Context is the information available for the current piece of work. It might include:

  • Your written instruction.
  • An attached document or spreadsheet.
  • Records from an approved connected system.
  • A brand guide, policy or evaluation rubric.
  • Results produced earlier in the same workflow.

The AI does not automatically know which internal document is authoritative. Tell it what to use and which source wins when two sources disagree.

Relevant beats abundant

More context is not always better. A folder containing five current policies is often safer than an entire drive containing old drafts, duplicates and unrelated files.

Useful context
Before
Everything the team has ever stored
After
The smallest current source set that covers the task

Good context is relevant, current and authorised.

Check quality before asking for analysis

Before using a dataset or document, ask:

  1. Is it the right source?
  2. Is it current enough for this decision?
  3. Is anything important missing?
  4. Am I allowed to use it for this purpose?

An AI result cannot repair a missing quarter in a revenue file or an outdated policy. It may make the gap harder to notice by presenting the result neatly.

Tools and permissions

A tool is a capability the AI can use, such as reading a file, searching an approved source or updating a record. Permissions define what the tool may access or change.

Use the narrowest permission that completes the task:

  • Read access when the AI only needs information.
  • Write access only when the task requires a change.
  • Human approval before an important external action.

Your source check

For the task brief you created, list the sources you would provide. Mark each source as current, relevant and authorised. Remove any source that is included only because it is available.

If two sources can disagree, name which one should win and why. If the authoritative source is missing, the safe result is to stop rather than analyse a substitute silently.

Recap

  • Context is the information available for one task.
  • Current, relevant context is more useful than a large unfiltered collection.
  • Check source quality before analysing it.
  • Give tools only the permissions they need.
Context and data | Mariete Academy