AI can help in the review layer by organising options, making assumptions explicit, flagging claims unsupported by supplied materials, and drafting questions for further checking. It should not make the choice: the cited guidance recommends treating the tool’s output as a first draft, not a final source, and checking claims, quotes, data, technical information and references against external documents.
What AI Can Review Without Choosing
| Review area | AI-assisted first pass | Human responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Decision structure | List the options, stated reasons and assumptions | Confirm that the framing reflects the applicant’s actual priorities |
| Evidence coverage | Identify claims that lack support in the supplied materials | Open the original documents and verify the claims |
| Missing information | Turn uncertainty into a list of questions | Decide which questions matter and how to resolve them |
| Trade-offs | Rewrite the rationale in neutral language | Assess the importance of each trade-off |
| Next steps | Draft a verification checklist | Decide what must be checked before reaching a conclusion |
These are review tasks, not selection tasks. AI can expose the structure of a decision without deciding which option is best.
A Prompt That Preserves the Boundary
A useful instruction can explicitly prohibit recommendations:
Review the options and rationale below. Do not rank or select an option. Separate factual claims, assumptions, personal preferences and unanswered questions. Identify which claims require verification, but do not treat any claim as verified without an external source.
The resulting review can then serve as a working draft. It does not replace the source documents or the applicant’s judgment.
What the Applicant Must Confirm Independently
Every factual claim still needs to be checked against the relevant external document, including its wording, data, technical information and references. If the original material does not support a statement, the statement should remain unverified rather than being repaired from an AI-generated answer.
The applicant must also confirm:
- Which facts are relevant to the decision.
- Which personal priorities and constraints matter most.
- How competing benefits and drawbacks should be weighed.
- Whether the available evidence is sufficient to proceed.
- Which option, if any, to select.
The clean division is simple: AI organises and questions; the applicant verifies and decides.