Select a Library
The first thing you want to do before you enter a query is to determine the library of documents where you might find the answer. If you do not check one of the listed groups, the AI will apply your query to our entire database. So, in other words, if your query is the needle, you may want to reduce the size of the haystack by selecting the library groups where it is most likely to be found.
Specific Query
Second, you should understand that Bible.booksAI.org is optimized for specific, specialized search. If you are only interested in broad, general search, then use Google. If, on the other hand, you have specific questions that are found in specific texts, then this is what our system was designed to do. It will bring you back an answer, as well as the specific text from the specific document(s) where that answer is found.
The Gold Wedge
One of the first questions we ever received was from a Mormon beta tester who asked:
Question: Who is the culprit behind the theft of the gold wedge?
Response: Unfortunately I could not find enough information in the provided context documents to determine who is responsible for stealing the gold wedge. The documents mention gold objects like jewels, chains, bracelets, rings, tablets, and a silver cup, but do not provide details about a stolen gold wedge specifically.
Since I could not find the answer in the given context, here are some suggestions:
- Try rephrasing the question or providing more background details to help guide my search.
- Consider asking step-by-step questions to narrow down the context and build up relevant facts. For example, you could ask where and when the theft occurred, who discovered it, what else was stolen, etc.
- Try providing additional context documents that may contain clues about the gold wedge theft.
- As a last resort, you could search the documents yourself by providing keywords that may be relevant, like "gold wedge stolen", "theft", "culprit", etc. Let me know if you need help constructing a keyword search.
This query was applied to our entire database, and the system was unable to come up with an answer within the returned documents.
The first solution we recommended was to try using "gold wedge" as keywords. This would narrow down the documents searched to just those which contained the keyword "gold wedge".
This was the answer. However, notice that most of the responses refer to speeches by William Branham. In fact, it turns out that the only places in our entire database where "gold wedge" appears are in Branham sermons. So, another way we could have resolved this was to restrict the search to our Branham library:
Reducing the haystack to make it easier to find the needle.
The Squeeze
Another Mormon brother asked this question:
Question: What is William M. Branham's perspective on the squeeze and how does he suggest believers should cope with it?
Response: The provided documents do not contain any direct references to William M. Branham's perspective on "the squeeze" or specific suggestions on how believers should cope with it. The term "the squeeze" is not mentioned in any of the context documents. Therefore, I cannot provide an answer based on the provided texts. If you have more information or context regarding William M. Branham's teachings on "the squeeze," please provide it, and I will do my best to assist you. Alternatively, you can try rephrasing the question or conducting a keyword search. For example, you can ask your question and then add "keywords: squeeze, coping, believers."
The first step to resolving this was to find what documents in our huge database refer to "the squeeze" as a term.
We then look at a few of these documents:
As it turns out, this was not a William Branham quote per se. It was a term used quite a bit by another well-known Mormon thinker, Lee Vayle.
So, adjusting our query slightly, checking the "Lee Vayle" library:
Another way the AI can help you to help it answer difficult questions.
Who was created first, man or woman?
A Rabbi wanted to know the answer to this question:
But he did not seem content with the answer, When pressed, he confessed that what he really wanted the AI to do was show him the different interpretations of this question. We explained to him that was a different question altogether. What he really wanted to know was:
Question: How do the texts differ on the question of who was created first, man or woman, based on the provided discussion?
The lesson here is don't try to trick the AI, or ask it questions that assumes a human level of intuition. It is a machine: It doesn't know anything, it doesn't remember anything. So, you need to be as specific as you in your question about it's true intent. The better the question, the better the answer.
What is the conversation God had with Michael?
This is a question asked by another Rabbi. In the various texts available, you will find that God has talked to Michael on many occasions. But, the first issue is: could those really be called "discussions" or "conversations"? In most cases, it seems that God would "say" or perhaps even "command" to Michael this thing or that. The next issue is: Didn't God have several "conversations" with Michael? So, which one do you want to know about?
Upon pressing the Rabbi, turns out he was looking for this passage:
So, this is God's reaction to a group of men turning their backs on the temple of the Lord to face east and worship the Sun. Here is how we re-phrased the question to get the response he was actually looking for:
Question: What information did God convey to Michael regarding the men who faced the east in front of the temple
And for good measure, we added:
Question: in which document is this mentioned?
You always want to verify the answers you receive with the source documents. That is how you can be absolutely certain that the answer you receive is a good answer.
And, try to refrain from asking vague, general questions. Be specific. As specific as you can be with as much information as you can provide about your question.
As you can see from the above examples, narrowing the haystack is always helpful in trying to find the needle.