When seeking assistance, the questions we ask inform the thinking of the machines or people giving answers. My initial work experience involved helping people research information. How to find books. How to search the internet or databases.

One of the most important skills we taught was to locate salient terms as they influence the answers we get. The more closer to the jargon, the better the research one would find. Better relevant terms, yields results with improved usefulness. Vocabulary worked wonders. Knowing the topic in ways to manipulate the search made research work.

As a result, working in IT, I monitor buzzwords and learn about them. I try to understand them in the current and potential future context. And watch their progress.

AI are replacing search engines, but the same issue remains. We still have to know what to ask to get the right answers.

Additionally, we have to know how to determine the answer validity. For that, we need knowledge to fact check.