AI Basics Quiz: What Do You Actually Know About AI?

What is the '80/20 trap' in AI adoption?

AI tools cost 80% more than traditional software and deliver only 20% of the value AI can only be used for 20% of any professional's tasks; 80% must remain fully human Only 20% of AI tools are reliable; 80% are experimental and should not be used at work AI handles 80% of a task well but fails at the remaining 20% in ways requiring human correction — making autonomous completion risky, but AI-assisted draft work highly valuable

What is the 'basic prompt improvement loop'?

Submit the same prompt three times and choose the best of the three responses Copy your prompt from online prompt libraries rather than writing your own Always delete and restart a new conversation if the first response isn't perfect Send a prompt, notice what's missing or wrong in the response, add that context and re-prompt, repeat — treating AI interaction as iterative rather than single-shot

What are 'parameters' in a large language model?

The rules that prevent AI from producing harmful content The settings menu where users configure how the AI responds The physical memory chips inside the servers that run the AI model Billions of numerical values adjusted during training that encode the model's learned patterns — they represent what the model 'knows' about language, facts, and reasoning

Which of these everyday products uses machine learning or AI?

A physical thermostat with a timer — it executes pre-set rules without learning A standard calculator — it follows fixed mathematical rules with no learning Netflix's recommendation engine — it uses machine learning to predict what content you'll enjoy based on your viewing patterns A basic alarm clock — it does only what it's explicitly programmed to do

What is the key difference between 'narrow AI' and 'general-purpose AI'?

Narrow AI is for small companies; general-purpose AI is only for enterprise use Narrow AI is designed for one specific task (spam filtering, recommendations); general-purpose AI handles many different tasks through a single model that users direct with language Narrow AI runs on phones; general-purpose AI requires large servers Narrow AI is cheaper; general-purpose AI is always more expensive per use

Even the most capable AI models in 2026 cannot do which of the following?

Summarize a long document into key bullet points Write code that executes correctly in common programming languages Reliably verify whether their own output is factually correct — models can produce false information with the same confidence as true information Produce grammatically correct text in English

What is 'hallucination' in the context of AI?

When AI generates plausible-sounding but factually incorrect information — because the model predicts likely text, not verified facts Hallucination is a technical term for when AI models become overloaded and crash When AI becomes confused and stops responding to questions When AI produces visual hallucinations or images instead of text

Which of the following describes a realistic and high-value use of AI in 2026?

Using AI to replace all written communication with a client without any human involvement Using AI to make final legal or medical decisions without a professional reviewing them Delegating an entire client project to an AI agent with no human review of outputs Using AI to produce a first draft of a client proposal, then editing it with domain knowledge and relationship context the AI doesn't have

A lawyer asks an AI for case citations supporting a specific legal argument. What is the risk, and what should they do?

High hallucination risk — AI may generate convincing-looking but nonexistent case citations. Every citation must be verified in a legal database before use There is no risk — AI was trained on legal databases and citations are reliably accurate The risk is only if the lawyer is in a jurisdiction not covered by US law training data The risk is low if the AI is asked to cite recent cases from 2024 or later

What is the recommended approach when starting with AI tools for the first time?

Try every major AI tool simultaneously to quickly determine which is best Pick one tool and use it consistently on real work for 30 days, building habits through hands-on experimentation rather than reading about AI or switching between tools Take a certification course before using any AI tool in a professional context Wait until AI tools become more mature and reliable before starting to use them

What is the core training objective of a large language model?

Memorize every fact in its training data so it can retrieve them accurately Build a logical reasoning engine that can prove mathematical theorems Predict what word (token) comes next, given all the words before it — repeated billions of times across vast text to build pattern knowledge Create a database of question-answer pairs to look up when asked something

Which of the following is an example of AI that predates ChatGPT and has been running invisibly for years?

A basic spreadsheet formula that calculates the sum of a column A credit card fraud detection system that flags unusual transaction patterns — a classic machine learning application deployed by banks for over a decade A dropdown menu that shows you your most recently visited websites ChatGPT Plus, which was the first commercial AI product available to consumers

What is the 'thinking partner' use case for AI?

Asking AI to agree with your existing conclusion to build confidence before a presentation A specific AI product designed for therapists and mental health professionals Using AI to stress-test plans, identify weaknesses in arguments, and explore a decision from multiple angles — not for the answer, but to sharpen your own thinking Using AI to make decisions for you when you're uncertain what to do

What happens when a conversation exceeds an AI's context window limit?

The AI stops responding and requires a new conversation to be started The AI loses access to text that falls outside the window — it effectively 'forgets' earlier parts of the conversation and may give inconsistent responses Exceeding the context window triggers an automatic upgrade to a larger model The AI stores the overflow in external memory and retrieves it when needed

Which of the three habits of effective AI users is most important for working with AI in a professional context?

Keeping the judgment — AI generates options and drafts; the human remains accountable for decisions and final outputs Using AI for every task, no matter how simple, to build maximum fluency Delegating final decisions to AI to remove human bias from the process Never verifying AI output to avoid slowing down the productivity gains

For which type of task would AI hallucination risk be LOWEST?

Brainstorming a list of marketing tagline ideas — there are no 'correct' facts to get wrong; creativity and fluency are the objective Describing a competitor's product features from their latest press release Looking up the exact revenue of a private company last quarter Finding the specific statute number of a regulation passed in 2025

What is AI 'hallucination'?

When AI translates text incorrectly because it doesn't know the language When AI becomes confused and stops generating responses When AI generates plausible-sounding but factually incorrect content — stated confidently, without any signal to the user that the information may be wrong When AI produces visual artifacts or distorted images

According to McKinsey's 2025 survey, approximately what fraction of organizations report regular AI use in at least one business function?

About 50% — half of organizations have started; half remain uninvolved About 25% — AI adoption is still in early phases for most organizations 88% — AI is now mainstream in organizations, not experimental Less than 10% — AI is still primarily used only by technology companies

Why is 'Artificial Intelligence' considered a misleading name by many researchers?

AI systems don't think or understand — they perform sophisticated pattern recognition and statistical prediction, which produces human-seeming outputs without human-like comprehension AI is misleading because the system is not artificial — it uses real human data The name is misleading because AI is more intelligent than humans in every domain There is no controversy about the name — it accurately describes how the systems work

How quickly did ChatGPT reach 1 million users after its release in November 2022?

5 days — the fastest product in history to that point to cross 1 million users 6 months — it grew slowly at first before viral spread 1 year — mainstream adoption in consumer AI has historically been slow ChatGPT has never reached 1 million users — it is primarily used by researchers