Summarize a long spec, then check each clause

Module 1: What AI already does in engineering work

Course outline

Quick check

Guess first, no penalty. You paste a 60-page project specification into an AI tool and ask for a summary. What do you check first?

A specification (the document that says what the finished work must be) can run to hundreds of pages. AI can find the right section in seconds. The risk is in the wording. A "must" becomes a "should", a value from one table lands beside the wrong clause, or a clause number appears that the document never used.

A clause is one numbered rule in a document. Check every clause number against the printed page. For the exact wording of a standard (a published set of rules for a type of work), check the copy your project uses. Don't trust a number you didn't see on the page.

A worked example

A prompt is the message you type to the AI. This one asks for a table, not a paragraph:

Here is section 4 of our project specification, pasted below.
Summarize it as a table with three columns: clause number, what it requires,
and the exact words it uses for the requirement.
Use only the clause numbers printed in the text. If a value has no clause
number, write "no clause number". Keep "must" and "should" exactly as written.

Your turn

Fill the gaps

Fill each gap in the same prompt.

Spec summary prompt

Summarize section 4 as a table with clause number, requirement and exact words. . Keep . If a value has no clause number, write .

Try it

Your steps, about 2 minutes

0 of 1
  1. 1.Run the table prompt on one section of a spec you use, or a made-up one. Check every clause number, and every "must" or "should", against the page.2 min

Practice

Question 1 of 2

The AI summary cites "clause 7.4" for a rule. Your specification's section 7 has no clause 7.4. What now?

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