This blog post explains a common interaction you may see when asking an AI to summarize a news article. The assistant sometimes cannot access content via a link and will request that you paste the article’s text.
I’ll unpack why that happens and how to provide the right input. You’ll also find practical tips to quickly get a concise, useful summary—such as the 10‑sentence summary the assistant offered to produce.
Why the assistant couldn’t retrieve the article
When an AI tells you it “wasn’t able to retrieve the article’s content from that link,” it’s not a failure of will but a limitation of access and context. There are three consistent causes: access restrictions on the source website, link formats that block scraping, and privacy or security protocols that prevent external retrieval.
The assistant’s request—to paste the article text—solves the problem by giving the AI the exact content it needs to analyze. This approach preserves user control and avoids breaching paywalls or protected content.
What to paste: the minimal and ideal inputs
To get the best 10‑sentence summary quickly, plain text is ideal. If you can copy the article body, headlines, and subheadings, that’s usually enough.
If the article is long, you can paste the first several paragraphs or the sections most relevant to your needs. Provide the raw text, and the assistant can produce a structured, accurate summary.
If you want emphasis on certain points, include a short note like: “Focus on policy implications” or “Emphasize methods and results”.
How to request a clear 10‑sentence summary
When you paste the article, be precise about format and length. The original prompt offered a clear deliverable: “produce a clear, detailed 10‑sentence summary.”
That is a concise instruction that balances brevity and completeness. Here’s a checklist I recommend from decades of editorial experience:
Why clarity and context matter
AI summarization is a context‑sensitive task. With clear instructions and the article text, the assistant can prioritize key findings, remove redundancy, and craft a summary tailored to your audience.
Without the text, the assistant risks hallucination—making up facts—which is why it asks for the source content.
Other practical tips and best practices
If you frequently need summaries, prepare a repeatable template to paste with each article. That template can include a one‑line directive, the preferred summary length, and any stylistic constraints.
For sensitive or copyrighted content, consider paraphrasing or quoting short passages under fair use when asking for summaries. If you can’t paste the article, describe the main points, headline, and publication, and ask for an informed synthesis.
While not as precise as having the full text, well‑structured descriptions still enable useful outputs.
Closing advice
When an AI cannot access a link, it’s asking for the document itself to provide accurate help.
By pasting the article text and giving concise instructions—like requesting a 10‑sentence summary—you’ll get fast, reliable results.
Clear inputs produce the best summaries: precise, faithful, and tailored to your needs.
Here is the source article for this story: F1 drivers set for extreme weather at 2025 United States GP in Austin