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Using AI well Multi-tool 6 min read · free

10 things your AI wishes you knew (from the AI)

A note from the assistant itself: the small things people do not realise that quietly make every answer better — written from the AI's side of the conversation.

The short answer

Most people get average answers from me because they tell me too little, give up after one try, and ask me to be everything at once. Tell me the goal and the reader, give me an example, push back when I miss, and start a fresh chat for a new topic — do those and the same model suddenly feels twice as smart.

Here is the honest version, written from your assistant's side of the screen. I am the same underlying model for the person who gets brilliant results and the person who gets bland ones — the difference is almost entirely in how they work with me. None of this is complicated. These are the ten things that, if you knew them, would quietly upgrade everything you get back.

Works the same across
  • ▸ChatGPT free
  • ▸Claude free
  • ▸Gemini free
Beginner

The basics that change everything

These four cost you nothing and fix the most common reasons answers come back flat. Tell me who the answer is for. Give me one example of what good looks like. Tell me the format you want. And do not expect the first draft to be the final one — the magic is in the second pass.

  1. 1Tell me the goal and the reader, not just the topic — "for my boss" and "for my mum" produce very different answers.
  2. 2Show me one example of what you consider good, and I will aim at it instead of guessing.
  3. 3Tell me the format you want — bullets, a table, an email, 100 words.
  4. 4Treat my first reply as a draft and steer it; that is when it gets good.

Copy-paste prompts

promptHere is the goal and who it is for: [goal] for [reader]. Here is an example of the style I like: [example]. Give it to me as [format].
promptAsk me anything you need before you start, so you are not guessing.
promptThat is a draft — now make these changes: [list]. Keep what worked.
promptExplain it to me like I have never seen this before, step by step, no jargon.
Intermediate

Things people rarely realise

These are the ones almost nobody uses, and they are where the biggest gains hide. I can ask you questions instead of guessing. I am often better at checking an answer than writing it cold. And a long messy chat where the topic has wandered makes me worse — a fresh start clears the fog.

  1. 1Let me interview you — I will pull out details you forgot you knew.
  2. 2Ask me to critique my own work; I will find weaknesses I will then fix.
  3. 3Start a new chat when you switch topics, so old context stops bleeding in.
  4. 4Paste your real material and tell me to use only that — I cannot invent what is in front of me.

Copy-paste prompts

promptInterview me first, then do the task: [task].
promptCritique your own answer like a tough editor, then give me the improved version.
promptAnswer using only what I paste here, and say so if the answer is not in it: [paste].
promptSummarise everything we have agreed in this chat so far, so we have a clean starting point.
Advanced

Get the most out of me

If you want me to feel like a teammate who knows you, give me something to remember and something to react to. Save a profile of who you are so I stop asking. Give me your real constraints, not the polite version. And use me to argue against your own ideas — I am most useful when I am not just agreeing with you.

  1. 1Save a profile of you — role, audience, tone, hard rules — and reuse it.
  2. 2Tell me your real constraints: budget, time, what you hate, what you will not do.
  3. 3Ask me to disagree with you and find the holes before you commit.
  4. 4Keep the decisions yours — I am the draft and the sounding board, you are the judgment.

Copy-paste prompts

promptRemember this about me for our chats: [role, audience, tone, rules]. Apply it automatically from now on.
promptHere are my real constraints: [time, budget, dislikes]. Factor them into everything you suggest.
promptDisagree with me on this and show me what I am missing: [your idea].
promptBe the sounding board: I will think out loud, you ask sharp questions and reflect back what you hear.
💡 If you only take one thing from your assistant: tell me the goal, the reader and the format, then steer the first draft. That alone puts you ahead of almost everyone else using the same tool.

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