AI-assisted practical guide. Examples are hypothetical; these are proposed editorial methods, not reported research results.
When you encounter two different ways of explaining a complex topic, it can be difficult to determine which one is more effective for your specific audience. Using AI to compare these explanations allows you to uncover the hidden assumptions each author makes about the learner's prior knowledge. By analyzing these prerequisites, you can select the version that aligns with your students' actual skill levels or merge the two into a more comprehensive guide.
Analyzing Prerequisite Knowledge
To begin, provide the AI with both texts and ask it to identify the technical terms, concepts, or cultural references that are used without definition. You should request a breakdown of what the author expects the reader to understand before starting the first sentence. For a more nuanced result, suggest that the AI look for implicit assumptions, such as an assumed familiarity with a specific software interface or a particular mathematical foundation. If the AI struggles to differentiate the two, try asking it to create a list of definitions a reader would need to look up for each version.
Hypothetical example
Imagine you have two explanations of how a thermostat works. The first says, "The bimetallic strip bends as temperature changes, breaking the circuit." The second says, "The device uses two different metals that expand at different rates to trigger a switch." You might use a prompt like: Compare these two explanations and identify what the learner must already know to understand each.
The AI output might look like this: Explanation one assumes the learner understands what a circuit is and how breaking it stops electricity. Explanation two assumes the learner understands the physical concept of thermal expansion.
Verifying the Comparison
Once the AI provides its analysis, you must verify that it has not hallucinated a requirement or overlooked a glaring assumption. Read through both original texts while keeping the AI's list of prerequisites in mind to see if any essential concepts were missed. A common error occurs when the AI assumes a term is common knowledge when it is actually a niche industry term. Your final check should involve reading the chosen explanation from the perspective of a complete novice to ensure that every assumed piece of knowledge identified by the AI is either actually present in the reader's mind or explicitly explained in the text.