Documents
AI automation to explain a document
Turns a confusing form into plain language, the dates you owe, and the lines you should ask about before you sign.
Level: Assist.
Trigger
Before you sign or file a form
Setup
about 25 min (estimate)
Before you start
- Gemini file upload — https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/14903178
- An AI chat — https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
- Google Calendar — https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/72143
Steps
Cover the private numbers
Before any upload, cover identity numbers, account numbers, and signatures. Leave the clauses you need explained.
Upload the covered file
Use a chat that accepts a file. Read what the upload page says it stores. Gemini file upload: https://support.google.com/gemini/answer/14903178
Ask for a plain reading
Paste nothing that you already covered. Custom instructions: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-custom-instructions
Explain the document I upload in plain language. List my obligations, the deadlines, and the lines that look unusual. Use only the file. If a date is not in the file, write not in the file. Do not tell me to sign. Do not give legal advice.
Ask for the costly lines
Request the exact quote for each line that costs money or limits you. Search the file for that quote. Drop any line you cannot find.
List every clause that costs me money or limits what I can do. For each one, quote the exact sentence and say where it sits. If you cannot quote it from the file, write not in the file. Do not add a clause.
Write questions for the issuer
Turn the lines you kept into questions you will ask the person or office that issued the form. You ask them. The chat does not.
Put real deadlines on the calendar
Add only a date you found in the file and then confirmed. Create an event: https://support.google.com/calendar/answer/72143
Example output
Plain reading - You must give 30 days' notice before you leave. - You return the place in the condition you received it, apart from ordinary wear. Costs or limits, quoted from the file - "The holder may enter at any time." Ask the issuer: does that include nights, and do they have to tell you first? Deadline on the calendar: notice date, 30 days before you plan to leave.
Power move
Ask for every line that costs you money or limits what you can do, with the exact quote. You then find that sentence in the file. A quote you cannot find does not count.
What to check
- Every quoted line appears in the file you uploaded.
- Identity numbers and account numbers were covered first.
- A deadline you will rely on was confirmed with the issuer.
What it can't do
It is not legal advice, and it does not sign or file anything. Cover identity numbers and account numbers before you upload. Check every quote against the file, then confirm a deadline with the issuer.
Privacy
Paste only the text a chat tool needs. Leave out passwords, account numbers, and identity numbers. The steps link to each tool's own help page when a setting matters.