Generative AI & LLMs
Text summarization
Producing a shorter version of a text that retains its main information.
Example
An assistant condenses a long email thread into a few key points.
Why people use it
It helps people get through long material more quickly.
What you'll hear
“Give me the main points from this thread.”
What this means for you
Specify the audience and check that necessary qualifications remain.
Can you control it?
Sometimes
Sometimes. Your choices depend on the tool and your access. The settings available to an everyday user may differ from those available to the people running it.
Common questions
- Does a summary preserve everything important to every reader?
- No. What matters depends on the reader and task.
- Can a summary make disagreement look like agreement?
- Yes. It may combine different views or leave out who objected.
- Can the requested length affect accuracy?
- Yes. A very short summary has less room for qualifications, exceptions and competing views.