LESSON 192 / 215·2 min readAdvanced

Do I need AI? Can deterministic code solve it?

ReferenceReference guide
01 Understand02 Recall03 Prepare

Words made simple

A few useful meanings before you read the explanation.

AI
Software techniques for tasks such as recognizing patterns, understanding language or generating content.
Agent
An application that uses a model to choose its next action within defined limits. It can use tools and continue through several steps.
  • Ask what the user actually needs and what the existing system already knows.
  • Exact lookups, arithmetic, validation, and known transitions usually belong in normal code.
  • AI is useful when language/media variation or learned pattern recognition provides value that rules cannot achieve economically.

Evidence to seek: a rules baseline, representative inputs, failure cost, and measurable benefit. “Our competitors have an agent” is not a task requirement.

PAUSE & RECALL

Can you explain it without the notes?

Do I need AI? Can deterministic code solve it?

Use your own words. Explain an example and one limitation before checking the explanation.

Check your explanation

Ask what the user actually needs and what the existing system already knows. Exact lookups, arithmetic, validation, and known transitions usually belong in normal code. AI is useful when language/media variation or learned pattern recognition provides value…

CONNECT IT TO YOUR INTERVIEW

Turn this concept into a clear answer.

Practice this concept
YOUR NEXT STEP

Keep connecting the ideas.

Next lesson: Do I need an LLM?

Adapted from 13_AI.MD · “1. Do I need AI? Can deterministic code solve it?”. Examples are study fragments; framework behavior can depend on your version.