As of 13 August 2026, AI can explain a contract before signing it.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open the complete contract, including schedules, appendices, referenced policies and any attachments, and save a copy before sharing it.
   2. Remove unnecessary personal data such as bank details, identity numbers and signatures, unless the exact wording is needed to explain a clause.
   3. Write down your role, what you expect to receive or provide, the other party's role, the value or importance of the agreement, your main concerns and the date by which you need to decide.
   4. Paste the contract and your context into an AI tool using the supplied prompt, then ask it to identify any missing pages or attachments before relying on its explanation.
   5. Compare every important point in the output with the cited clause in the contract, including payment, renewal, termination, liability, restrictions and deadlines, and correct any mismatch.
   6. Send the list of unclear or one-sided clauses and proposed questions to the other party, and keep its written replies with the contract.
   7. Take the complete contract, the AI's flagged issues and the other party's replies to a solicitor before signing if the agreement is high value, long term, disputed, unusual or still unclear.

   Prompt

   Explain the contract below in plain UK English before I decide whether to sign it. This is not professional advice. Do not tell me that I should sign or refuse to sign. Do not invent facts, legal rules, missing terms or likely outcomes.
   
   First, identify the parties, purpose, term, renewal arrangements, payment obligations, deposits, cancellation and termination rights, liability or indemnity provisions, confidentiality, intellectual property, restrictions, dispute terms, governing law, notice requirements and any important deadlines. Quote or identify the relevant section for each point.
   
   Then provide:
   1. A short plain-English summary of what I would be agreeing to as [my role, for example customer, employee, tenant or contractor].
   2. A table with columns for clause or section, what it says, what I must do, what the other party must do, and what could happen if it is not followed.
   3. Any wording that is unclear, unusually broad, one-sided, internally inconsistent or missing information.
   4. Questions I should ask the other party before signing.
   5. Changes I could ask for, without claiming that any change is legally required.
   6. A separate list of issues that need a solicitor to assess, especially where the contract is high value, long term, disputed, unusual or difficult to interpret.
   
   Distinguish clearly between what the contract actually says and your explanation. Use the contract's exact wording when a point matters. If the document is incomplete, unreadable or missing an attachment, say so and list what is missing. Do not give a final recommendation.
   
   Contract:
   [PASTE THE FULL CONTRACT HERE]
   
   My role and context:
   [DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE, WHAT YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN, YOUR MAIN CONCERNS, AND ANY DEADLINE]

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.