AI Literacy

Getting started with AI is easier than it may seem, and these simple tips will help you use it effectively and get great results right away.

• Talk to it like a helpful assistant: You don’t need to write code or use complicated tech terms. Just use normal, everyday language to explain what you need.
• Be specific with your requests: Instead of asking for “ideas for a party,” ask for “five budget-friendly, outdoor birthday party ideas for a ten-year-old.” More details lead to much better answers.
• Keep the conversation going: If the first answer isn’t perfect, don’t start over. Just ask the AI to make it shorter, change the tone, or add more details.
• Give it a role: Tell the AI who it should pretend to be. For example, tell it, “Act like a friendly chef helping me plan dinner with what’s in my fridge” or “Act like a gentle editor reviewing my email.”
• Double-check important facts: AI is great at brainstorming and summarizing, but it can sometimes state incorrect facts with absolute confidence. Always verify critical information before using it.

Writing a prompt simply means giving instructions or asking a question to an AI, and these quick tips will help you phrase your requests to get the exact results you need.

• Define the persona: Start by telling the AI exactly who it should be. Giving it a role—like “Act as an experienced copywriter” or “Explain this like a patient science teacher”—instantly sets the right tone and depth.
• Provide clear context: The AI doesn’t know your background or goals unless you share them. Briefly explain the “why” behind your request, who the final audience is, and any specific constraints it needs to follow.
• Break multi-step tasks apart: If you have a complex project, don’t ask for everything at once. Ask the AI to build an outline first, review it, and then ask it to write the content section by section.
• Show, don’t just tell: If you want the AI to write in a specific format or style, give it an example to follow. You can paste a sample of your own writing and say, “Use this style and tone to write the following paragraph.”
• Specify the output format: Be explicit about how you want the final answer delivered. Tell it to use bullet points, a numbered list, a table, or a specific word count limit so you don’t have to reformat it later.
• Use negative constraints: Sometimes telling the AI what not to do is just as important as telling it what to do. Use phrases like “Do not use technical jargon,” “Avoid empty filler words,” or “Do not include an introductory greeting.”

Ready to level up? Moving from basic chats to advanced AI use is all about shifting your mindset from asking questions to designing workflows.

• Match the right model to the task: Advanced users know that not all AI models are created equal. Use faster, lighter models for quick brainstorming or basic editing, and save the larger, “reasoning” models for complex coding, deep logical analysis, or highly strategic planning.
• Prompt the AI to think before it answers: For complex logic, or deep analysis, ask the AI to show its work. Use phrases like “Explain your reasoning step-by-step in detail before giving the final conclusion.” This forces the model to trace its logic sequentially, which dramatically reduces reasoning errors.
• Feed it data for analysis: Stop treating the AI as just a writer. Upload spreadsheets, text documents, or code, and ask it to find trends, summarize key themes, clean up formatting, or write scripts to process the data for you. Be sure to only use approved AI for Clark data, and be cautious about using free AI with your own data.
• Use AI for critique: Instead of asking the AI to write something for you, have it stress-test your own work. Paste your writing and ask: “Play devil’s advocate. What are the three weakest points in this writing? What could be misunderstood by the reader?”
• Co-design prompts with the AI (Meta-prompting): You don’t have to write complex prompts from scratch. Let the AI build them for you by saying: “I want to create a prompt for [insert task]. Ask me a series of questions one by one to gather the context you need, and then write the perfect prompt for me.”

• AI Prompting for Everyone (via DeepLearning.ai): Taught by AI pioneer Andrew Ng, this is a beginner-friendly, 7-hour course designed to help anyone become an AI power user by mastering modern prompting techniques for deep research, collaborative writing, and building simple apps without any coding experience. (External Site)
• OpenAI Academy: Offers structured courses, practical guides, and community resources designed to help individuals confidently integrate AI, ChatGPT prompting, and automated workflows into their everyday work and education. (External Site)
• Prompt Engineering Guide: A comprehensive, open-source resource that provides in-depth tutorials, research-backed techniques, and practical examples designed to help users master prompting strategies for large language models. (External Site)