Learning a new tool in one hour

This lesson is still being tested: it improves with learners' feedback. If something is unclear, it is the lesson that needs fixing, not you.

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to

evaluate a new AI tool in one hour, with a fixed method;
read what it promises, what it costs and where your data goes, on its official pages;
run a short, comparable test;
decide, and note it down.

Why it matters to you

New AI tools appear every week, and today’s tools will change names, prices and features. You cannot follow everything, and you do not need to. What you need is a method to judge on your own, in one hour, whether a tool deserves a place in your life. It is the skill that makes everything else last.

Before you start


You need	An AI tool you do not know yet, on a free plan; the “new tool” sheet (resource); your usual tool, to compare
Cost	€0: the test is done with a free plan
Duration	60 minutes
Reminder	During the test, only invented data

Understand it in 3 minutes

The method, in five beats (sheet in the resource):

Beat	Duration	Where
1. What it promises	10 min	The tool’s official page
2. What it costs	10 min	Its pricing page, dated
3. Where your data goes	10 min	Its privacy page, or its help pages
4. The test	25 min	A real small task, with invented data, compared with your usual tool
5. The decision	5 min	Adopt, try again on a given date, or do not keep

What you have already learned that helps here: reading a plan (module 1, lesson 5), privacy settings (module 1, lesson 3), comparing as of a given date (module 9, lesson 2), checking the provenance of an extension (module 7, lesson 6).

A real example: Mistral’s assistant (called Vibe on its pages), steps 1 to 3, read on 24/10/2026:

What it promises: on the free plan, according to its pricing page (in French), a personal assistant for everyday tasks, on the web and on mobile, with limited messages and web searches, and more than 100 connectors.
What it costs: the Pro plan was shown at $14.99 per month excl. VAT, in our copy of the page. The page also offers the euro and a list of countries: check the amount in euros when you pay.
Where your data goes: according to its help pages, the data sent and received is used by default to train its models, unless you opt out (Enterprise plan customers are excluded from training by default); and giving feedback with the thumbs always allows that use, whatever the plan.

Step 4 (the test) was not done for this lesson: it is up to you to do it.

Do it together

1Step 1: Choose the tool

Choose an AI tool you do not know, that has a free plan. Open the resource “New tool” sheet, and note the date.

2Step 2: The three readings (30 minutes)

Read its official page, its pricing page, and its privacy or help page. Fill in parts 1 to 3 of the sheet. If a piece of information cannot be found, write “not found”: that is already information.

Before the test, apply the setting that refuses training if there is one. Don’t turn on any connector: do not link your email, your calendar or your drive during the test. Also decide what you will never give it.

3Step 3: The test (25 minutes)

Choose a task you know well, for example the meeting notes from the invented notes in module 3, or the club invitation from module 9. Give it exactly the same instruction as to your usual tool, in new conversations on both sides. Compare using the checklist from module 9, lesson 2.

4Step 4: Decide

Tick a decision, with its reason and its date. If you connected or installed something and you are not keeping it, remove it (module 7, lesson 7).

Your turn

Evaluate a new tool with the sheet, in one hour, timer in hand.
File the sheet in your journal.
The next time someone tells you about an “amazing” tool, spend the same hour again, no more.

Resources to download

“New tool” sheet: one hour to decide: what it promises, what it costs, where your data goes, the test, the decision.

Check your work

It worked if:

your sheet is filled in from the official pages, and dated;
you know whether your conversations are used for training by default, and how to opt out;
the test used only invented data, with the same instruction as your usual tool;
your decision is written down, with its reason.

Common mistakes:

judging a tool from a video or a demo;
believing that a price shown in dollars is the price in euros;
giving a real document during the test;
keeping an account and connections “just in case”.

Keep it and pick it up later

Keep your “new tool” sheets together: in six months, they will tell you why you kept or dropped each tool.
For the tools you keep, put the recheck date in your maintenance plan (lesson 5).

Going further

optional

Keep the list of tools you have evaluated in your journal, with your decision and the date. The page Choosing your tool in this course shows you the ones we have already checked, with their date.

New words

3 words explained

Word	What it means
Official page	A page published by the tool’s own publisher
Training	The use of conversations to improve the publisher’s models
Opt out of training	The setting that asks for your conversations not to be used for training

To be checked: the test of Mistral’s assistant (step 4 of the example) was not done; the price in euros was not noted.