How to Build an Evidence Log for a China AI Delegation
Build a delegation evidence log that distinguishes demonstrations, host claims, source documents, conflicting observations and follow-up tasks.
An evidence log makes a meeting useful after delegates have forgotten its context. Give each entry a question, source, observation date and evidence type. A host's statement, a document and a witnessed workflow should remain distinguishable. Record contradictions rather than editing them into a smooth story, and connect each unresolved point to a follow-up owner.
What to evaluate
Claim structure
Record the claim, source, date, context and decision relevance.
Evidence type
Distinguish live observation, supplied record, public source, interview and inference.
Confidence
Rate corroboration, boundaries, incentives and unresolved contradictions.
Follow-up
Assign verification tasks, owners, dates and decision gates.
Worked evaluation exercise
The following is an illustrative assessment exercise, not a reported customer result.
An entry on a warehouse robot might read: claim, reduced picking delays; evidence seen, a short supervised demonstration; missing evidence, shift-level throughput and exception logs; follow-up owner, operations lead. That record supports a request for more information, not a conclusion about return on investment. Use a separate field for permission to quote or circulate the material. Another delegate should be able to reconstruct why the team reached its decision.
Questions for the operating team
- Did we observe this directly?
- What would disconfirm the claim?
- Which decision changes if it is true?
Warning signs
- Notes organised only by meeting.
- Photographs treated as full evidence.
- Group consensus erasing minority observations.
Planning the visit
Use these questions to scope an industry-focused China AI program. Agree which records and operating workflows can be examined before confirming meetings; host participation and access require confirmation. Our research method explains how we structure the brief and follow-up.
References and scope
These references provide policy or risk-management context. They do not independently verify a host's performance or the illustrative exercise above.