An AI Prompt includes the information, sentences, or questions that you enter into a Generative AI tool. The prompts are a big influence on the quality of responses you receive. After you enter a prompt, the AI model analyzes your input and generates a response based on the patterns it has learned through its training. More descriptive prompts can improve the quality of the responses.

Good or effective prompts are those that engage the user's thinking, inspire creativity, and provide clear direction. The key characteristics of good prompts are listed below. By combining these characteristics, prompts become more effective in stimulating meaningful, creative, and thoughtful responses.

It’s very important to keep in mind that AI-generated content can be inaccurate, misleading, entirely fabricated, or offensive, so be sure to carefully review any work containing AI content before you use or publish it.

Clarity: The prompt should be straightforward and easy to understand, avoiding ambiguity. The user should immediately know what is expected of them.

• Example: "Describe a future city where AI controls the weather. How does it affect daily life?"

Open-Ended: Effective prompts invite exploration and multiple perspectives, encouraging creativity rather than restricting responses.

• Example: "How might AI revolutionize education in the next 20 years?"

Specificity: While being open-ended, a good prompt provides enough detail or context to guide the response, preventing vague or off-topic answers.

• Example: "If AI could help solve one environmental issue, what would it be and how would it work?"

Relevance: The prompt should be relevant to the audience's interests or learning goals, ensuring that it resonates and motivates a thoughtful response.

• Example: "In what ways can AI enhance your current job or profession?"

Challenge: Effective prompts challenge the user’s thinking or stretch their imagination without being too overwhelming.

• Example: "Imagine AI has mastered creativity. What role would human artists play in a world of AI-generated art?"

Encourages Critical Thinking: A good prompt should invite the user to analyze, evaluate, or synthesize information.

• Example: "What ethical boundaries should AI developers consider when creating autonomous machines?"

Contextual Framing: Providing a brief scenario or background information can make a prompt more engaging.

• Example: "You are the mayor of a city powered entirely by AI. What policies do you create to ensure human well-being?"

• Be specific
• Tell it how you want your output to be presented 
• Use examples 
• Consider tone and audience 
• Build on previous prompts
• Correct mistakes and give feedback