Step 11 of 11
Using the model to govern your own AI use
A framework that only describes behavior is a vocabulary. This one is meant to be used before the work, not only after it.
The findings above are about people in aggregate. What follows is about a single piece of work, and it is the part the model was built for: deciding, in advance, how you intend to engage, and then checking whether you did.
Three questions do most of the work.
Before you start
1.What am I trying to keep?
Not what you are trying to produce. What you are trying to still be able to do afterwards. If the answer is nothing, delegation is fine and Production Assistant is the right mode. If the answer is the reasoning, the effort that builds that reasoning has to stay with you. This is the Productive Friction principle, and it is a decision you make before the work rather than a regret you have after it.
2.What would have to be true for this to be wrong?
Ask it before you see the answer, not after. Trust should track evidence and stakes rather than fluency, and a fluent answer is exactly the one you will not think to check. Naming the failure mode in advance is what makes Verification a habit rather than an afterthought.
3.Whose question is this?
If the AI framed the problem and you are answering its framing, the most consequential decision in the work has already been made by something with no stake in the outcome. Problem Setter is the mode that takes that decision back.
Afterwards, one more: could I explain this to someone who will push back? If the answer is no, you have an artifact rather than an understanding. That is sometimes fine, and it should be a choice.
What survived the reading
A short check on the parts of the model people most often invert — the tier grouping, what a mode is, and what a single conversation can and cannot show.
Test what you’ve learned
Twelve short items, about five minutes. Auto-scored where possible.
Which of the four layers in the AI Engagement Model answers the question "What kind of system am I working with?"
Your responses are saved as you go.
Not quite the whole model yet
You have landed on the last step, but some of the walkthrough has not been read. The steps below are the ones still outstanding.
Next step
Where to go from here
If the framework helped you locate yourself, the most useful next move depends on what kind of practice you want.
Map your engagement profile (5 min) →