Lesson 03 · 10 minutes
Brief AI like a capable colleague
Give the goal, relevant context, constraints, examples and expected output instead of hunting for magic prompt wording.
Why this matters
Models fill missing context with assumptions, often without making those assumptions obvious.
A good brief also gives the human reviewer a quality checklist.
The practical bit
State what you are trying to achieve, who the result is for, what information is relevant, what must not happen and what a useful output looks like. Provide an example when style or structure matters.
Ask the system to identify missing information or assumptions before producing a consequential answer. Iteration is normal: inspect what failed, improve the context or constraint, and try again on a small sample.
What it looks like
Instead of ‘write an email’, specify the recipient, purpose, relationship, facts that must be included, tone to avoid, desired length and what decision the email should enable.
For a meal plan, include dietary needs, available ingredients, cooking time, budget and whether leftovers are wanted, not merely ‘make me a healthy dinner’.
Adding theatrical instructions and long personas while omitting the real audience, source material, constraints and definition of done.
Use your judgement
Try it now
- Write the goal and audience.
- Add only relevant context and source material.
- Add constraints, a useful format and your checking criteria.
Use this in a real situation
Brief a writing taskTurn real notes into a useful brief with boundaries and review points.Open the practical →Keep this
Better context and criteria beat clever prompt theatre.