Talking to an AI: the basics of prompting

The prompt is simply what you write to the AI. And the quality of the response depends enormously on the quality of your request. Good news: there's nothing magical about it, just a few habits to pick up.

Rule #1: context

The AI knows nothing about you or your situation. "Write me an email" will give a bland result. "Write a polite but firm email to my landlord who hasn't fixed my boiler for three weeks, I've been a tenant for 5 years and always paid on time" will give a usable email. The more context you give, the better.

Rule #2: the expected format

Say what you want to receive: "in three bullet points", "as a table", "in 100 words max", "in a warm tone". The AI follows formatting instructions remarkably well, you just need to give them.

Rule #3: the role

Starting with "You are an experienced nutritionist" or "You are a teacher explaining to a 10-year-old" shapes the entire style and level of the response. It's the trick with the best effort-to-result ratio.

Rule #4: iterate

The first response is a draft, not a verdict. Reply: "shorter", "less formal", "add a concrete example", "redo it but for a senior audience". A conversation, not a lottery.