Today’s Challenge

Open whatever AI you normally use — ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, anything. Pick an open-ended question. Ask it 3 times.

The question is up to you. Some examples:

  • “How do I build a reading habit?”
  • “Python tips for a complete beginner”
  • “How can I run better meetings?”

You can rephrase it each time or paste the exact same wording. The key rule: start a fresh conversation each time. Don’t follow up inside the same thread. Three new chats.

Save all three answers. Copy-paste into a note. That’s it.

What to Look For

Put the three responses side by side:

  • Is the structure the same? (bullet points? how many? headings?)
  • Are the examples the same? (same advice, different illustrations — or totally different advice?)
  • Which answer do you like best? Why?

Most people’s first reaction: “Wait, I asked the same thing three times. Why are the answers so different?”

Exactly.

Why This Matters

In the last post we covered the core idea: LLMs generate, they don’t retrieve. They don’t look up an answer in a database. They produce a new response from scratch each time.

This exercise lets you verify it yourself. Not by memorizing a fact, but by feeling it. Three answers in front of you. You don’t need anyone to explain — you can see for yourself that every response is generated fresh.

That also means quality fluctuates. Some answers will be better than others. That’s normal. It doesn’t mean the AI is broken.

Once you accept this, your expectations get more realistic. And the way you use AI changes too.

Today’s Takeaway

Every AI response is a fresh generation, not a file pulled from storage. Hold onto that one idea, and you already understand AI better than most people.

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