Wunmi’sAI STARTING POINT
Menu
Learn AI · Lesson 4

The Anthropic 4Ds

Good AI use needs more than a good prompt. Use four connected habits to decide what to hand over, how to guide it, and what to do with the result.

8 minutes + reflection · Beginner first · Optional Go Further

Four habits you return to

We use the beginner-friendly labels Delegate, Describe, Discern and Diligence. The original framework names the competencies Delegation, Description, Discernment and Diligence. They work together: checking an answer may lead you to change your instructions or decide not to use AI for part of the task.

01

Delegate

Delegation

Choose what to hand over. AI can help draft your message. You decide what it needs to say.

02

Describe

Description

Explain what you need. Share the useful facts, who it’s for, and what a good result looks like.

03

Discern

Discernment

Look closely at the result. Does it make sense? Are the details right? Is anything missing?

04

Diligence

Diligence

Take care with what you use. Protect private information and take responsibility for what you share.

These are the four connected skills in the AI Fluency Framework by Rick Dakan and Joseph Feller, developed into a course with Anthropic. The explanations here are adapted for beginners. Explore the original framework ↗ · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. They are habits to return to, not a rigid checklist to finish once.

A workshop invitation, with a human in charge

Imagine you are inviting people to a free community workshop. You have confirmed the date and venue, but not step-free access.

Delegate

Ask AI to draft an invitation. Keep decisions about capacity, access and commitments with the organiser. AI cannot confirm what the building provides just because a sentence sounds plausible.

Describe

Supply confirmed facts, audience and tone. Tell it to identify missing information. Explain that it must not claim accessibility features you have not checked.

Discern

Read the draft against your notes. Does “everyone can attend easily” imply something you cannot support? Are the time and contact details correct? Revise the brief if necessary.

Diligence

Confirm access with the venue, protect attendees’ information and take responsibility for what you publish. Be transparent about AI use where your audience, organisation or context calls for it.

Decide what you would change

A prepared draft says: “Join our fully accessible workshop. Bring a friend; there is room for everyone.” Your notes only confirm 20 spaces and say nothing about access. Write a response before opening the answer.

A four-habit planning note

Task: [what I need]. Delegate: [what AI can help with; what I will decide]. Describe: [confirmed facts, audience, format and boundaries]. Discern: [what I will check and against which source]. Diligence: [permissions, privacy, transparency and who approves use].

A responsible response

Do not publish it as written. Confirm access with the venue and avoid unlimited-capacity language. Ask for a revised draft that says spaces are limited to 20 and uses only verified venue information. Review the revision yourself.

All four skills are involved. You may decide to write a sensitive sentence yourself instead of delegating it.

Do not turn responsibility into a tick box

Asking the assistant to “be ethical” does not settle who has permission to share a photograph or whether a claim is true. Those decisions need information and accountable people.

The framework is a set of connected skills, not a safety certificate. Return to it when the audience, task or stakes change.

Go FurtherOptional challenge. Come back whenever you’re ready.

Apply the four habits to an image campaign. Who approved the references? What should remain accurate? Who checks the final images? Identify one task you would keep human-led and explain why.