E1 · Foundational

E1 is the first band on the Emeri scale. Someone at E1 already uses AI for real tasks and gets useful output when the task is familiar and the request is simple. The gap is in what happens after the output arrives. At E1, the work is often accepted as it comes back, without a deliberate check.

E1 is an earned grade. A certified E1 means the exam found real, foundational competence across the six skills. It is a starting point, and the skill descriptions below show where practice moves the grade.

To build from here, each skill below links to a free guide, and the role guides show what E1 looks like in your job.

E1 in each of the six skills

Asking well

Requests name the topic and the format. They often leave out the audience, the goal, and the limits. When the output misses, the fix is usually a hand edit rather than a better request.

Checking the work

Obvious errors get caught, such as a wrong name or a broken sentence. Confident claims, invented sources, and quiet omissions tend to pass through unchecked.

Putting it together

AI is used one request at a time. Each task starts fresh, and results move between tools by copy and paste.

Getting real work done

AI produces a useful first draft. Turning that draft into finished work is mostly done by hand, and some drafts go out closer to raw than they should.

Giving good context

The model gets the request but little of the background. Source material, examples, and constraints are rarely supplied, so the output stays generic.

Keeping it safe

There is a general sense that some information should not go into AI tools. That sense is not yet a consistent practice applied before each paste.

How E1 differs from the bands either side

E2

E1 and E2 · Proficient

The step from E1 to E2 is mostly about checking. At E2, output is read critically before it is used, and requests carry the audience, the goal, and the limits. E2 work stands on its own. E1 work often needs someone else to catch what was missed.

E1 in your role

The six skills are the same in every job. What E1 looks like is not. Each role guide describes every band from E1 to E4 with tasks from that job.

Questions