ZEMI MethodExplorerPublished v1.1 ↗
Interactive field guide Version 1.1 · July 2026

Evidence before
conclusion.

Explore the reasoning discipline that turns contested claims, incomplete records, and tool-derived outputs into findings that can be tested, explained, and challenged.

“Every claim relevant to a decision is a hypothesis until evidence from an independent source supports it.”
Read the governing publication ↗

Five governing principles

01 Evidence over assertion02 Corroboration and completeness03 Bounded claims04 AI-assisted, never AI-decided05 Defensibility by construction
Explore the method

Seven phases. One traceable record.

Select a phase to see its question, actions, automation boundary, and practical checkpoint.

0Phase
Establish permission

Authority & Scope

Confirm the mandate before evidence work begins.

Key question

Are you permitted to ask, obtain, examine, and disclose?

Core actions

  • Identify client, decision-maker, mandate, and jurisdiction
  • Record conflicts, exclusions, access constraints, privilege, and standards
  • Separate authority to perform the work from authority to disclose it

Automation boundary

No automated contribution can create authority.

Explorer checkpoint

Authority exists and limitations are justified, reported, and reflected in affected findings.

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Choose the engagement mode

Purpose determines mode.

01Investigative

Determine what the available evidence can establish about an event, system, claim, or sequence.

02Preliminary evaluative

Consider competing propositions and express what the evidence appears to support, without claiming full evaluative finality.

03Fully evaluative

Evaluate evidence against formal competing propositions. Any required discipline-specific evaluative framework governs evidential strength.

When AI is material

Classify what the evidence shows.

A role classification describes conduct. It does not assign legal responsibility or accept system labels as proof.

01

AI present

Exists in the environment or workflow, but no evidence shows a material effect.

02

AI-assisted

Supports a human through drafting, search, analysis, coding, troubleshooting, or orchestration.

03

AI-orchestrated

Coordinates or triggers material steps under human-configured rules, prompts, tools, or integrations.

04

AI-autonomous claimed

Claimed to select objectives or act without human control; requires independent evidence and is not accepted from labels, logs, prompts, vendors, or actors alone.

Automation boundary

Retrieve. Correlate. Propose. Draft.
Never adjudicate.

Automation can accelerate the path to a finding. A person must still own the conclusion, trace it to source, and answer for it under challenge.

SourceObservationTested claimHuman gateFinding