Why We Need Receipts

Remember when you could open a car hood and point to what was broken?

Now it's all computers.

And we're doing the same thing to thinking.

We want to believe bigger AI models are smarter. More context means better answers. Like assuming the kid with the biggest backpack has the best grades.

But here's what actually happens.

You feed AI your entire company knowledge base. It gives you an answer. You ask "why?"

It can't tell you.

Not really.

Just processed... everything.

Thing is, humans don't trust what they can't trace.

When AI chunks information into pieces, retrieves what matters, shows its work... that's architecture. When it swallows everything whole and spits out answers... that's faith.

Your legal team doesn't run on faith.

Neither does your board.

Or your customers when something goes wrong.

The smartest AI isn't the one with the biggest memory. It's the one that can show receipts.

Magic we can't explain is magic we can't trust.

Maybe teachers were right all along... showing your work isn't about the answer. It's about trust.