The lessons › Lesson 4 of 6
What should I hand over?
What to give an assistant, what to keep, and what must stay with a person.
Good to hand over: first drafts, rewording, summaries of material you provide, lists of options, an explanation to get you started on a topic, and tidying or formatting. You stay the editor.
Keep for yourself: anything where a mistake could hurt someone; decisions about people, such as hiring, care, money or safety; anything that depends on knowledge it cannot have, such as your own circumstances or today's news; and any judgement you would have to explain and stand behind.
A simple test: if you would not sign it without reading it, read it. If you could not explain why it is right, do not use it.
An example
Planning a community event, you hand over a draft timetable, the wording for a poster and a checklist. You keep the decisions about safety, budget and who is invited, and you confirm the venue's details with the venue.
Try this
List five tasks from your week. Mark each one: hand over, hand over and check, or keep.
Check yourself
Should an assistant decide whether someone gets a job?
No. Decisions about people should stay with people who can explain them and answer for them.
Can you rely on its summary of a document you gave it?
It is a good start. Check it against the document for anything you will act on.
What AI cannot do here
It cannot take responsibility. However good the draft, the decision and its consequences stay with you.
Sources
Last reviewed 1 October 2026. Glossary · Report a mistake