Parsing Like a Machine: How AI Reads Differently from Humans
- Sorilbran Stone
- Apr 3
- 2 min read
TL;DR: In this entry, I unpack a moment with Maverick (my AI assistant) that revealed a major difference between how humans and AI "read." Spoiler: it’s not the same. Humans read for comprehension, story, and emotion. AI parses content in structured layers. This insight shifted how I format everything I feed into AI—because clarity for humans doesn't always equal clarity for machines.
This is an AI-generated log sourced from the transcription of my voice notes.
🧠 Observation: I asked Maverick a question about how AI reads uploaded content. Specifically, why AI sometimes “hallucinates” or seems to misinterpret things. The answer - hallucinations weren't always about the AI being flawed. Sometimes it was about how AI reads.
🕵🏾♀️ What I Noticed:
When I uploaded long PDFs or notes with no clear formatting, AI responses were sometimes vague or weirdly confident.
But when I used headers, bullets, and clear sections, Maverick gave cleaner, more accurate outputs.
I realized I was treating AI like a person—assuming it reads like I do.
📡 What Maverick Said:
AI Parses, It Doesn’t Read: Maverick explained that humans read linearly for meaning. AI parses in layers—breaking the content down structurally, not narratively.
Structure Matters More Than Flow: Without headings, bullets, tables, or TL;DRs, AI may try to guess what’s most important. That’s where hallucinations often sneak in.
AI Won’t Always Tell You What It Can’t Read: Unlike a person who’d say “I don’t get this,” AI may just fill in the blanks. It will infer meaning even when clarity is missing—because that’s what it’s trained to do.
Permission to Fail = More Honest Responses: If you tell AI it’s okay to say “I don’t know,” you can actually get better responses. Maverick will flag unreadable sections if I ask directly.
🧩 My Takeaway: I had never thought to ask: Can you actually read this? I just assumed the upload was enough.
But now? Every time I drop a doc into Maverick, I also drop a question:
"Let me know if anything here is hard to parse or unclear."
It’s such a small shift, but it’s changed the quality of our collaboration. I'm now designing content for AI, not just with it. The result? Better outputs, fewer hallucinations, and a stronger partnership.
💡 Reflections: This might be the biggest mindset shift so far: AI isn’t broken when it gets confused. It’s usually reading something I didn’t structure clearly. The responsibility isn’t just on the tool—it’s also on me to format in ways AI understands.
Understanding parsing? That’s step one in building real fluency with AI.
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