> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How the AI Helps

> What the AI reads when it prepares a termly review, what it suggests, what it never does, and how to switch it off.

A termly review asks a key person to look back across a whole term of observations, which is a lot of reading. **Prepare with AI** does that reading and lays out what it found, with the evidence, so the key person can spend their time on the judgements rather than the searching. It never makes a decision for them.

## What it reads

* The child's **published** observations from the term: their text, the areas they're tagged with, and the next-step idea written on each.
* **Moments from home** that staff accepted and linked to the curriculum, marked as shared by the family, so they can support a suggestion but never carry one on their own.
* The child's **open next steps**, and their levels on their last completed review.
* Your setting's **level wording** and **term summary writing rules**.

**Photos and videos are never sent to the AI**, and nor are drafts, unpublished observations or safeguarding records. Only this child's observations are read; if a group observation's text names another child, the AI is told to write only about this one.

## What it suggests

| | |
| - | - |
| **Each area** | A short summary of what the observations show, a suggested level with a one-line reason, and the observations it's based on. |
| **Each open next step** | Whether the observations show it looks achieved, show progress, or say nothing about it, with the observations. |
| **New next steps** | Two to four, written about the child, each built on something they were seen doing, with an idea for home and the observation it builds on. |
| **The term summary** | A draft for the family, written from the finished review. |

![Three suggested next steps for Brandon, each with an idea for home, the reason and the observation it builds on](https://mintcdn.com/pigeonholeearlyyearsltd/scN0b7d_0PnpW0pu/images/termly-review-proposals.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=scN0b7d_0PnpW0pu\&q=85\&s=d85f71974038a1c1b446e74f71204619)

Click any cited observation to read it in a side panel without leaving the review.

## What it never does

* **It never guesses.** Where the observations give little or no evidence for an area, it says so and suggests no level. Areas with nothing recorded are flagged as something to look out for next term.
* **It never suggests a level or next step without evidence.** Every suggestion must cite at least one real observation, or it's left out.
* **It never marks a next step achieved.** It says what the observations show; the key person decides.
* **It never overrides staff.** Suggested levels are pre-selected, marked with a sparkle, so accepting one takes no clicks; but preparing again never changes a level a member of staff chose themselves.
* **It never shares anything.** Nothing reaches a family until a member of staff publishes the term summary.

The AI's suggestion is kept on record next to what staff chose, so you can always see where a judgement came from. That's the kind of "checks and balances" Ofsted looks for when settings use AI.

## Switching it off

Switch off **AI preparation** on the [Termly reviews settings](https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/docs/managers/development/termly-reviews/setting-up.md#ai-preparation) tab. Staff then complete reviews and write term summaries themselves; everything else works the same. See [AI Features](https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/docs/managers/ai-features.md) for every AI feature in Pigeonhole and how your data is handled.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is our data used to train the AI?

No. Your data is not used to train models and is never shared with another setting. See [How your data is handled](https://pigeonholeapp.co.uk/docs/managers/ai-features.md#how-your-data-is-handled).

### Why does it sometimes suggest a different level each time?

AI suggestions can vary a little between runs, especially where the evidence is borderline. That's one reason the key person always makes the final judgement. If a suggestion doesn't fit, choose the level that does.

### Why is Prepare with AI greyed out?

The child has no published observations this term, so there's nothing for it to read. Hover over the button to see why. The review can still be completed by hand.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.