Articles / Explained simply
What is an AI error budget?
The short answer
An AI error budget is the number of mistakes your AI can afford. Stay under it and the AI pays off. Go over it and the AI costs more than it saves.
Why does AI need a budget for mistakes?
AI works fast, and it never gets tired. It is also wrong some of the time. When it is wrong, it still sounds sure.
Most savings plans count only the time saved. They assume the AI is always right. An error budget adds the part they leave out.
What does an AI mistake cost?
A mistake costs you in three ways.
- Checking. Someone reads what the AI wrote.
- Fixing. Someone corrects what they caught.
- Damage. A mistake that nobody caught reaches a customer.
- Right answersgo straight to Done.
- Caught mistakesgo back to be fixed.
- Missed mistakespass the check and reach the customer.
How do I know if my AI is inside its budget?
You compare two numbers. The first is how many mistakes your AI can afford. The calculator gives you that one.
The second is how many mistakes it really makes. You find it by testing the AI on your real work.
What if it is over its budget?
Then it costs more than it saves. You have three choices. Improve the checking step, change the tool, or stop.
Short questions
Is the error budget the same for every company?
No. It depends on your task, your costs and what a mistake does to a customer.
Do I need to know anything about AI to find mine?
No. The calculator asks six plain questions about one task in your company.
Does a good AI tool make no mistakes?
No tool is right every time. A good one stays under its error budget.
Published [PUBLISH DATE].