# AI tool selection worksheet: choosing for the job

From Dryvn AI, https://www.dryvn.ca/resources/choosing-ai-models-and-tools

## How to use this sheet

Fill in one sheet per job before you open a pricing page. Name the task, what the tool will be given, what it must produce, and who will check it. Then pick two candidate apps by capability, run ten real items through each for one week, and count what the checker had to fix. Choose from that evidence and write a review date, because plans, limits and models change. Every tool can produce a plausible wrong answer; if no one can check the output, that is a reason not to use AI for that task yet.

## Blank worksheet

| Field | Your answer |
| --- | --- |
| The job (one task, one sentence) | |
| Inputs (text, files, web, your records) | |
| Output needed (draft, answer with sources, table, action taken) | |
| Who checks it (a named person, and what they check) | |
| Data sensitivity (customer, financial, contractual, none) | |
| Connected actions needed (none / read only / draft only / act with approval) | |
| Candidate tool 1 (app, plan, capability that fits) | |
| Candidate tool 2 (app, plan, capability that fits) | |
| Trial plan (ten real items, one week, what counts as a fix) | |
| Decision and review date | |

## Fictional example (illustrative only)

This example is invented to show how a completed sheet reads. It is not a test result and does not recommend any vendor.

| Field | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| The job | Answer client questions about filing deadlines with a source link. |
| Inputs | The client's question, typed. No client files. Web search on. |
| Output needed | A short answer with the official page it came from. |
| Who checks it | The bookkeeper handling the client opens the source page before replying. |
| Data sensitivity | None in the question. Client names are never typed in. |
| Connected actions needed | None. Read only. |
| Candidate tool 1 | Assistant app A on its free plan: web search with visible sources. |
| Candidate tool 2 | Answer engine B on its free plan: citations shown by default. |
| Trial plan | Ten real questions from last month's inbox, one week, a "fix" is any answer where the source did not support it. |
| Decision and review date | Tool B for this job, checked by the handling bookkeeper. Review 9 December 2026. |