Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Simply put, a prompt is what you as the user enter into the AI tool. This could include questions, data, information, instructions, sentences, paragraphs, or any other type of text that provides AI with the necessary context to generate an output. How you craft these conversation starters is essential for guiding AI to generate a response that best meets your needs. 

• Be Specific: Provide the AI with as many details and context as possible. For example, the prompt "write a funny poem about dogs in the style of Emily Dickinson" will produce better results than the more generic prompt of "write a poem." 
   
• Create a Role: Ask AI to be behave as a type of person, process, or object. This allows the AI to provide more specific results as it considers its response within the context of that role. For example, you could begin a prompt about brainstorming a research topic with "Act as a college student in an entry-level biology course." 
   
• Define Your Output: Tell AI the type, quantity, or format of the output you want. This could include asking for data presented in a table, a 150-word summary, a bulleted outline, or 10 topic ideas.
   
• Break Down Complex Questions: If you are asking a question with multiple parts, prompt AI with one section or step at a time. This process allows you to evaluate each output separately and prevent miscommunication. 
   
• Ask for Changes: It is helpful to think of engaging with AI as an ongoing conversation. After the initial response provide feedback on what changes could be made, update what tone you are looking for, modify the wording of your prompt, add more specific details to your initial question, or repeat important instructions. You may not receive the "perfect" results on the first try so keep the conversation going!