How can you get AI to do what you want?
AI apps like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft CoPilot can do lots of things for you, saving you time and energy.
Asking AI to do something for you is called prompting.
Prompting AI is a bit like writing a recipe. It needs steps to follow and ingredients to work with.
Here’s how you can ask AI to do something for you.
Start with what you want it to cook up
This is the task you want it to do for you.
Example: “Write an email to my landlord.”
Add in ‘Who’ you want it to pretend to be
This is the role or person you want it pretend to be when doing this task.
Example: “Write an email to a landlord as if I am the tenant.”
Add ‘How’ you want it done
This is the way you want it to be done. This could include things like the tone that you want it to take.
Example: “Write an email to a landlord as if I am the tenant. Write it in a professional tone.”
And ‘What’ you want it to say
Be really clear about what exactly you want it to do.
Example: “Write an email to a landlord as if I am the tenant. Write it in a professional tone. Include that I need my broken hot water system fixed.”
Check what it came up with is ok!
Look at what it has done for you and see if it is what you want. Make sure to check it carefully because AI can make mistakes.
You can choose to fix it if it’s not right.
Example: Ask it to “Write it more simply.”
That’s it! Your recipe for a great AI prompt
Now you can get AI to do what you want by giving it a prompt.
Just remember these 4 ingredients:
- Who
- How
- What
- Check
Have a go yourself
Try using these example prompts in an AI app to see what it does. Ask yourself:
- What changes when you add more instructions?
- What would you need to change or fix before you used what it wrote for you?
Now try using our AI Art Gallery. Here you can practise following the prompt recipe it gives you to create funny animal pictures.
Learn more good things about AI here.
Tip: If you are teaching others how to create prompts for AI, take a look at our session plan here.