A letter arrives full of words like "arrears" and "remit". You read it twice and still are not sure what it wants from you. Turning official wording into plain words is something your AI app does well.
Today you will practise on a made-up notice. You will also learn two habits for your own mail. Cover up your details before you share anything. Then confirm with a real person or office before you act.
What your AI app can do with a confusing page
Your AI app is good at four things here:
- putting jargon into plain words. Jargon means the special words that offices and companies use
- summing up a long page in a few lines
- listing what you are being asked to do, and by when
- suggesting questions to ask the sender
There are three ways to show it a document. You can read the confusing part aloud, as you did in Lesson 2. You can type or paste the words. Or you can take a photo, if your free app allows it.
Before an app can use your camera or photos, your phone or tablet asks your permission. You may say no and read the page aloud instead.
Start with only the part you do not understand. One paragraph is often enough.
The cover-up habit, every time
A bill or letter holds far more about you than a birthday message does. Before you share any part of one, leave out or cover these details:
- your full name, address and date of birth
- account and customer numbers
- card numbers
- your health-card number and social insurance number
Cover any barcode or square code (often called a QR code) as well. This is a simple precaution.
If you read aloud, skip those lines. If you type, put "[my account number]" in place of the real one, as in Lesson 3. If you take a photo, cover the details with sticky notes or a folded sheet of paper first.
Before you send a photo, look at what else is in the frame. Other mail or a pill bottle may be in view.
There is a reason for this habit. The company behind an app may store what you send. Google's privacy page for its Gemini app gives this advice. Do not enter confidential information you would not want a reviewer to see. Lesson 7 shows the settings that give you more say.
Ontario's guide for seniors says to give your health-card number to no one except a health care provider. Rules differ in other provinces.
The paper is the authority
An AI app can misread a number or mix up a date. It can also sound sure when it is wrong.
Treat its answer as a helpful first reading. Then hold the summary beside the letter. Check every amount, date and name against the paper. If they differ, the paper wins.
Take the decision to the right person
An AI app is not a doctor, a lawyer or a financial adviser. Google and Microsoft both tell people not to use their AI apps in place of professional advice.
Use the app to understand the words and prepare your questions. Then take the decision to a person whose job it is.
These Ontario contacts were checked on 6 October 2026. Other provinces have their own services.
- Health letters and medicine questions: your pharmacist, or Health811. Dial 811 to talk with a registered nurse. It is free and open 24 hours a day. TTY (text telephone) users dial 711.
- Legal letters: Legal Aid Ontario, at 1-800-668-8258 or 416-979-1446 in the Greater Toronto Area. It answers Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time. It also funds community legal clinics. For free general legal information, read Steps to Justice at stepstojustice.ca. Steps to Justice also describes the Law Society Referral Service. It offers a free 15-minute consultation with a lawyer or paralegal. Look it up on the Law Society of Ontario's own website.
- Bank and credit letters: your own branch, or the number on the back of your card. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has consumer information on banking, loans and debt.
- Tax letters: the Canada Revenue Agency, at 1-800-959-8281. It answers Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time.
- Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security letters: Service Canada, at 1-800-277-9914 (TTY 1-800-255-4786). It answers Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. local time.
- Not sure who to ask: dial 2-1-1. This free, confidential helpline points you to community and social services. In Ontario it is answered 24 hours a day, in more than 150 languages.
The call-back rule, and your safety minute
Sometimes the first question is whether a letter or bill is real. The call-back rule answers it.
To confirm, use a phone number or web address you already have. Look on the back of your card or on an older statement. Or type the organization's web address yourself.
Never use the contact details printed in something you are unsure about. The Canada Revenue Agency gives similar advice about suspicious calls: find an official phone number and call it yourself.
Safety minute: if a letter involves money, a deadline or your health, confirm with the organization before you act. Taking a few minutes to check is always reasonable.
The three ground rules, the same in every lesson:
(1) Keep private numbers out.
(2) Check anything that matters.
(3) It is not your doctor, lawyer or financial adviser.
Try it: Decode the practice notice (about 10 minutes, phone or tablet)
- Open your AI app and start a new chat. Give it the made-up notice that follows. You can copy it from the box labelled "Practice notice (made-up)" on this page and paste it in. Or tap the microphone and read it aloud. The notice says: "WILLOWMERE HYDRO. NOTICE OF ARREARS. Customer: [name covered]. Account number: [covered]. Our records show an outstanding balance of $148.36 on your account. This amount is now in arrears. Please remit payment in full on or before March 12, 2027. A late payment charge of 1.5% per month will apply to any amount unpaid after that date. If you are enrolled in pre-authorized debit, please disregard this notice. Questions? Call 416-555-0142 or visit www.example.com."
- Ask: "Explain this in plain language. What is it asking me to do, and by when?"
- Ask: "List any words I might not know and explain each one in a sentence."
- Ask: "Who should I contact to confirm this is genuine, and how should I find their phone number?"
- Compare the answers with this answer key. What it is: a reminder that a bill was not paid on time. Amount: $148.36. Pay by: March 12, 2027. If it is late: a charge of 1.5% a month is added. Exception: if the bill is paid by automatic withdrawal from a bank account, the notice can be ignored. Words: "arrears" means money that is overdue. "Remit" means send payment. "Outstanding balance" means the amount still unpaid. "Pre-authorized debit" means an automatic withdrawal you agreed to. "Disregard" means ignore. Did your app get the amount and the date right?
- Now check the call-back rule. A good answer tells you to use a number you already have, such as one on an older bill. It may also tell you to type the company's web address yourself. If your app told you to phone the number printed on the notice, that is the mistake to watch for. (Willowmere Hydro is invented. The phone number and web address in the notice are set aside for examples and belong to no real company.)
- Your win for today: a confusing page turned into a plain summary, and you checked the AI's work. Because the notice is invented, you shared nothing personal. With your own mail, apply the cover-up habit first.
Prompts you can copy
Practice notice (made-up)
Plain-language summary of your own letter
Words I might not know
Questions for the real office
Before you move on
Sources checked for this lesson: Government of Ontario: Health and well-being (A guide to programs and services for seniors) • Government of Ontario: Your health • Legal Aid Ontario: How do I apply for legal aid? • Legal Aid Ontario: Find a legal clinic • Steps to Justice (Community Legal Education Ontario): Home • Steps to Justice (Community Legal Education Ontario): 1. Get legal help • Canada Revenue Agency: Contact the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) • Canada Revenue Agency: Scams and fraud - Recognize a scam • Employment and Social Development Canada: Canada Pension Plan (contact) • Employment and Social Development Canada: Old Age Security (contact) • 211 Ontario: Contact • 211 Canada: Connect to Essential Services with 211 • Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada • Google: Gemini Apps Privacy Hub • Google: Upload & analyze files in Gemini Apps • Microsoft: Microsoft Copilot Supplemental Terms of Use • Anthropic: Consumer Terms of Service • Anthropic: Is my data used for model training? • Google Android Help: Change app permissions on your Android phone • North American Numbering Plan Administrator: 555 Line Numbers • Internet Assigned Numbers Authority: Example Domains