2 · Prompting well

A vague prompt gets a vague answer. The fix is to give the model what a smart human helper would need. A reliable recipe:

• Role: who it should act as ("You are a patient biology tutor").
• Task: exactly what you want ("Explain photosynthesis to a 7th grader").
• Context: the situation, audience, and any source text to use.
• Format: length, structure, tone ("5 bullet points, plain English").
• Examples: show one good answer when the format matters.

Then iterate: treat the first answer as a draft. Ask it to be shorter, cite its claims, try a different angle, or fix what's off. Good prompting is a conversation, not a one-shot.

Two habits that save you:

• Ask for its reasoning or sources so you can check them.
• Give it the material (paste the article/data) instead of trusting its memory, when accuracy matters.

Sources

• National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2023). AI Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0). https://www.nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework