Confident with AI course contents
Part One: Begin Using AI
3. Have Your First Useful Conversation
Improve an answer by adding purpose, context and the form you need.
The lesson
Purpose means what you are trying to accomplish.
Context is information that materially changes the answer.
Form means how you want the answer presented, such as steps, a short explanation, a comparison or a draft.
Correct the assistant and continue the same conversation.
Worked example
Weak request: “Write an email.”
Better request: “Write a friendly, concise email declining an invitation because I already have plans. Keep it warm and leave open the possibility of meeting another time.”
Follow-up: “Make it less formal and remove the apology.”
Try it
Ask for help with a real low-stakes task. Add your purpose, one relevant detail and the form you want. Then request one revision.
If you need a task, send these messages one at a time in the same conversation:
Help me plan three simple evening meals.
They need to be vegetarian.
Give me the result as a shopping list followed by three short recipes.
Make the recipes suitable for one person.
Checkpoint
The revised response is more useful to you, and you can identify which extra instruction improved it.
About this course
Confident with AI was created by Charli-Jo Tyrer in association with the Technology Association of Visually Impaired People (TAVIP).
Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.