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106 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2026 while describing another. Ask what they saw, what they ruled out, and why they chose one response instead of the other options. AI can help the interviewer come up with follow-up questions, especially when the conversation stalls. AI can organize the discussion afterward, but it cannot recover a detail that nobody took the time to ask about. Turn the Interview Into Something Useful After each conversation, transcribe the recording. This can be done easily with many available tools, including standard AI chat tools. Sending record- ings "outside" for transcription is unnecessary and should never be done to safeguard any customer information that may have come up during the pro- cess of documenting the process. That matters if the discussion includes customer information, con- trolled processes, or export-controlled work. Use company-approved equipment, involve IT or com- pliance when necessary and know where the re- cording and transcript will be stored. Do not assume the transcript is accurate. Plating terms, chemical names, equipment brands, and shop-floor noise can trip up even a good transcrip- tion tool. Keep the original recording so question- able sections can be checked. Before asking AI to organize anything, have somebody familiar with the department make a quick pass through the tran- script. Correct the names of chemistries, tanks, test methods, and equipment so the same item is not treated as two different things. Mark places where the audio is unclear rather than guessing at what the operator said. A clean transcript gives you a much better starting point. Next, use your company- approved AI system to organize the transcript. The instruction should be narrow and specific. Organize and Separate 'Observations' and 'Actions' You can also ask the system to separate obser- vations from actions. "The solution is darker near the return" is an observation. "Check the filter and flow" is an action. If you want the system to do this, add this sentence to the prompt: "Separate obser- vations from actions, and organize them into two clearly labeled sections." Keeping the two separate makes it easier for the operator and the engineer to see whether the response actually follows from the condition being described. It also shows where the interview captured a warning sign but never estab- lished what should happen next. The result is a working draft. AI may misunder- stand a statement, leave out an important detail, or write something that sounds perfectly reasonable but was never directly said. The draft still needs to go back to the person who knows the process. Review the draft with the operator in person. • Read it one section at a time and ask whether he/she would be comfortable training somebody from it. • When he/she changes a word such as "always" to "usually," stop and ask about the exception. When he/she changes the order of two checks, ask why the order matters. These corrections are not small edits; they are often the judgment you were trying to capture in the first place. Review Is Critical After the operator is comfortable with the draft, engineering and quality should review it. The goal is to capture experience, not turn every habit into an approved practice. The reviewers should con- firm that the limits align with the controlled pro- cess, that the recommended actions are safe, and that an old workaround hasn't quietly become the new standard. No document will replace the experience and judgment of a veteran plater. A new operator still needs to see the line run, hear the equipment, handle parts, and watch conditions change. But with this documentation to assist, instead of standing there without knowing what to look for, the new operator arrives with better questions. The veteran spends less time explaining the obvious and more time teaching judgment. Once the Document Has Been Reviewed, Use It Do not wait until the experienced plater is out of the building to find out whether the instructions make sense. Have a different operator follow the