Home labs & practical projects

Evaluate a small AI assistant against a task rubric

A project to do with your own tools, with guidance on what to create and capture.

Design project Suggested time: 90–120 minutesNo hardware required for the design

What you could create

A support team wants an AI assistant to answer questions from a short knowledge base. It needs to judge usefulness and failure cases before adopting a service.

Example evidence format

Project evidence map (example)

Question set and evaluation rubricScope and inputs

Assistant suitability and risk assessmentDecisions and reasoning

Evidence record (example)

Evidence	What to capture
Question set and evaluation rubric	Show the inputs, scope and decisions behind this record. Unanswerable questions are part of the evaluation.
Assistant suitability and risk assessment	Include the evidence supporting your conclusion. The assessment distinguishes fluent wording from supported answers.

What you'll need

Document, spreadsheet or diagram tool

Write five fictional support articles and ten questions, including two that the articles cannot answer. Prepare a scoring rubric before reviewing example outputs.

Project record

Keep the working files for question set and evaluation rubric and record assumptions as you go.

Current reference material

Use the linked provider resources to verify the features, access terms and version relevant to your project.

Access & cost

No paid platform is needed for the written version. Use a document, spreadsheet or diagram tool you already have.

The organisation and records are fictional. Write down assumptions; do not substitute confidential employer information.

Suggested milestones

1
Plan and investigate
Define correct answers, acceptable uncertainty and evidence requirements.
2
Develop your approach
Evaluate responses for accuracy, grounding and appropriate refusal to guess.
3
Verify and explain
Identify data handling, human review and service-selection questions.

Evidence worth keeping

Keep clear, organised evidence of your design and any testing you carry out.

1
Question set and evaluation rubric
Show the inputs, scope and decisions behind this record. Unanswerable questions are part of the evaluation.
2
Assistant suitability and risk assessment
Include the evidence supporting your conclusion. The assessment distinguishes fluent wording from supported answers.

Label design proposals and observed results clearly.

Explain your work

Use these prompts to reflect on your decisions and what you learned.

Which part of your question set and evaluation rubric needed the most judgement?
What observation or assumption changed your approach?
What would you improve, and what have you not verified?

Describe this as a personal project in your portfolio.

Useful resources

Use these resources to deepen your understanding and check key details.

Official certification objectives

Review the current provider requirements and relevant subject areas.

Explore external learning resources

Find relevant providers and check features, access requirements and costs.

A useful starting point

Write five fictional support articles and ten questions, including two that the articles cannot answer. Prepare a scoring rubric before reviewing example outputs.

What a good result looks like

Unanswerable questions are part of the evaluation.
The assessment distinguishes fluent wording from supported answers.

Finish the project

Keep the decision record and note unanswered questions. A written design is not evidence that a technical control has been tested.

Independent home-project guidance, not an official vendor lab or a claim of complete exam coverage. Use your own tools and label the work accurately.