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AI

Context

The single biggest reason AI outputs are generic is that the inputs were generic. AI has no idea who you are, what project you're working on, what your manager cares about, or what happened in last Tuesday's meeting. Unless you tell it.

Lesson 2

AI only knows what you tell it.

Context is not background noise. It is the most load-bearing part of any prompt. The model is pattern-matching against everything you give it. Give it your actual situation and it works with your actual situation. Give it nothing and it fills the gaps with the most average version of what it thinks you need.

The people who get the most out of AI are not necessarily the best writers or the most technical. They are the most willing to share what's actually going on.

Context you provide versus gaps AI fills

What you giveReal notes · stakes · constraintsYour outputGeneric average
Paste the real situation and AI works your work. Vague input → generic output.

Core principles

  1. Paste the real thing. Actual emails, actual notes, actual data. Not summaries of summaries.
  2. Tell it what it's working with. "This is a draft I've been stuck on" lands differently than "write me something."
  3. Give it the constraints that live in your head. Deadlines, stakeholders, sensitivities. If it matters to you, it belongs in the prompt.
  4. Tell it what it should not use or assume. The negative space is as load-bearing as the positive.

Check yourself

According to this lesson, what separates the people who get the most out of AI?

Do this in Copilot

Paste real project context and answer the model's one follow-up question before moving on.

Paste this into Copilot Chat and work through it before moving on.

The context prompt

I'm going to give you context about something I'm actually working on right now. [Paste 3-5 sentences about a real project, task, or problem you're currently dealing with.] Based only on what I've shared, tell me: what do you know for certain, what are you guessing, and what would help you give me a better answer? Then ask me the one question that would most change your response.
Open Copilot →
  • Grounding check

Did you run this in Copilot? Mark complete when you have tried it.

Next lesson: Iteration →