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Reading AI Research

How to Read a Paper

The Three-Pass Method

9 min+90 XPStep 1/10

Reading is progressive filtering

The three-pass method (Keshav's 'How to Read a Paper') treats reading as staged commitment:

  • Pass 1 (~10 min) — title, abstract, intro, all section headings, figures, conclusion. Goal: decide whether the paper deserves more time, not to understand it.
  • Pass 2 (~1 hour) — read carefully but skip proofs. Trace the method figure, follow each experiment's setup, note questions in the margin.
  • Pass 3 (hours) — mentally re-implement. Derive the math yourself, challenge every assumption, predict what each ablation will show before looking.

Most papers deserve pass 1 only. A handful deserve pass 2. Pass 3 is reserved for papers you'll build on.

insight

Reading every paper fully is how you finish four papers a year and retain three of them. Triage first — depth is a budget you spend, not a default.