The 'No-Go' List: What You Should Never Ask AI
Some tasks are for the machine. Some are for the master. Know the difference.
We build the production line of strategic knowledge work. But every production line has a safety stop.
AI is a reasoning engine, not a truth engine. Here are the three things you must never delegate.
1. Final Verification of Citations
The "Hallucination" problem is not a bug; it's a feature of creativity. Large Language Models predict the next likely word, not the next true fact.
The Rule: If the AI gives you a case name, assume it is fake until you see the link.
2. Empathy and Client Strategy
You can ask AI to draft a "firm letter of demand." But should you send it?
Strategy requires reading the room, not just the law. An AI cannot feel the hesitation in a client's voice or know that the opposing counsel is notoriously litigious on Tuesdays.
3. The "Kill Switch" Decision
Deciding to settle. Deciding to fire a client. Deciding to sue.
These are irreversible heuristic decisions based on years of human intuition. AI can list the pros and cons (SWOT analysis), but it cannot take the leap.
"The machine processes the data. The human owns the risk."
What CAN it do?
Everything else. Summarizing 5,000 pages of discovery? Yes. Comparing two versions of a contract? Yes. Drafting the first messy version of an affidavit? Yes.
Delegate the grunt work. Keep the glory.