# 6. AI OR ME? A decision guide

Michael Rainer · APEX-PRESS · v0.37-C01 · EN

Use these eight references alongside the chapters. Copy the fields you need into your own record and keep one working version of that record. A reference card can remind you what to check; completing its fields does not prove that the answer is correct. Examples below are author-written practice material unless explicitly linked to the dated observations in Day 28.

Consider three possible arrangements: doing the task yourself, using AI for a bounded draft you can inspect, or preparing material with AI for a person who has the context and competence to review it. The right arrangement depends on the task and the information available.

Do it yourself when the work is already quick, depends strongly on a personal relationship, or would take more effort to check than to complete. A short personal note may need your own words more than several generated alternatives. A small calculation may need a calculator and the correct units.

Use an assistant where you have permitted inputs, a useful bounded output, and a practical way to check it. A first draft, a set of alternatives, or a table organizing supplied facts may fit. The result still needs review before it becomes part of another decision or communication.

Use AI with identified human review when it can help prepare material but the decisive judgment belongs elsewhere. Be specific about who reviews what. “Human in the loop” is not a useful plan if no person has the source documents, time, or relevant competence.

**Decision record:** My task; what AI would add; what an error could affect; how I would notice and correct it; information that must remain outside the tool; person responsible for the decision; choice and reason.

Compare this record with the tool selector. A capability answer tells you whether a function is available. The AI OR ME? decision asks whether that function belongs in this task at all. A technically possible use can still be an unsuitable use.

Revisit the decision when the task changes. A public summary and a confidential personnel record are not interchangeable inputs. A practice question sheet and an individual professional conclusion are not interchangeable outputs. Retain the boundary that made the original workflow appropriate, or conduct a new review before expanding it.