{"id":252,"date":"2026-10-08T09:56:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:56:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/lessons\/ai-companions-in-plain-language\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T09:56:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T09:56:34","slug":"ai-companions-in-plain-language","status":"publish","type":"raoa_lesson","link":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/lessons\/ai-companions-in-plain-language\/","title":{"rendered":"AI companions, in plain language"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An AI companion is more than a chat box. It has a job, a way of speaking, a rule for what it may remember, and tools it can use only when you allow them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Chat alone can only talk. A companion becomes useful when it can look something up or read a note, and only after you say yes. This course does not train a new model. You will design the companion, then connect skills through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The four parts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Role: what the companion is for, such as a study partner.<\/li><li>Voice: how it speaks, such as short answers and one question at a time.<\/li><li>Memory: what it is allowed to remember. In this course, that means the notes you attach.<\/li><li>Tools: actions it can take, such as reading a note. Each action waits for your approval.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Watch the lesson video above for a plain-language tour of MCP from the people who work on it. Then use the diagram to name the four parts of the companion you want to build.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mcp-lesson-1-1024x580.png\" alt=\"Four boxes labeled Role, Voice, Memory, and Tools feeding one companion card\" class=\"wp-image-253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mcp-lesson-1-1024x580.png 1024w, https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mcp-lesson-1-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mcp-lesson-1-768x435.png 768w, https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/mcp-lesson-1.png 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A companion is a role, a voice, a memory rule, and a short list of tools.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Practice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Write one sentence for a companion you actually want. Example: \u201cA study partner that quizzes me from my own notes and never emails anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-252","raoa_lesson","type-raoa_lesson","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/raoa_lesson\/252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/raoa_lesson"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/raoa_lesson"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.raoatech.ca\/skilltour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}