How CurTask's AI finds evidence

Every answer comes with a page and a quote

When the AI analyses a paper, fills a matrix cell or suggests a code, it must give three things together:

• the value (for example, a sample size or a finding),
• the page it came from,
• the exact words on that page that support it.

You see the page and the quote beside the value. Choose the page (for example p.7) to open the reader at that page, with the passage highlighted. See The evidence line.

CurTask checks the quote on the page

Before you see an answer, CurTask looks for its quote in the text of that page of your copy of the paper. Small differences such as line breaks and spacing are allowed; different words are not.

If the quote isn't there, the answer is thrown away. You never see a value that CurTask couldn't find in the paper.

"No source found"

When no answer could be checked, the cell or field says No source found. In the matrix, the cell explains: "The AI's answer couldn't be matched to a passage on its page, so no value is shown."

This is on purpose: an empty cell you can fill yourself is better than a confident guess. Type your own value, or try again. See Matrix cells.

A second check on some answers

Finding the quote proves it is in the paper. It doesn't always prove the quote really backs the value. So some answers get a second check before you see them:

• Matrix values. A value whose quote may not fully back it is marked Check this one, so you can look before accepting. The value itself is never hidden or changed.
• Check my citations raises fewer false alarms: a citation the paper does back is not flagged. See Check my citations.
• Find support leaves out suggested papers that don't actually back your claim. See Claim support.

It reads only your papers

The AI answers from the text of the papers you chose, page by page. A paper's reference list is left out, so the AI doesn't mistake another study's findings for this one's.

A paper with no PDF has no text, so the AI leaves it out until you add the PDF. See Papers without a PDF.

For scanned papers, the AI reads the text CurTask got from the page images. If a scanned page was hard to read, you can check and correct its text first. See Review OCR text.

Facts reused from other researchers are checked too

Some short facts, such as a sample size, are the same for everyone who has the same published paper. CurTask may reuse such a fact, but only after finding its supporting passage again in your own copy. See Shared facts.

You still decide

Evidence helps you judge an answer; it doesn't decide for you. Every AI answer stays Suggested until you accept it. See "Suggested": you stay the author.