Pause before you prompt · Route the work

Working with AI Lesson 5 asks whether the task is yours. Keep that. This lesson asks something narrower: if AI is in play, which door do you open?

Human, Chat, or an agent is a choice, not a habit.

People who get compounding value from Copilot pause for ten seconds. They name the job, who will read it, and whether they need a quick draft, a cited report, a spreadsheet pass, or no model at all. Then they open that surface. Everyone else pastes into the last chat they left open.

Core principles

Write the outcome first: what “good” looks like, who sees it, when it is due.
Chat: back-and-forth drafts, rewrites, outlines, when you will stay in the thread.
An agent: when the job is the same every time, or when you need a specialist (research report, data pass, meeting recap).
You: when the thinking is the product, or when you need the skill to stay sharp.

Prerequisite: Working with AI — Judgment (whether, not which)

Check yourself

What should you write down before you open Copilot?

Do this in Copilot

Name one brief you owe this week. One sentence: job, audience, due. That brief is the rest of the course.

Paste into Copilot Chat. Do not ask it to write the brief yet.

Force a pause on a real brief

I have a piece of work due this week. Job: [WHAT]. Audience: [WHO]. Due: [WHEN]. What I already have: [NOTES / FILES / NOTHING]. Do not draft the deliverable. Ask me three questions, then recommend one starting surface only: me with no AI, Copilot Chat, Researcher, Analyst, Facilitator, or a declarative agent I already have. If a surface might not be on my license, say “only if you can open it.” End with: pause, then open that surface on purpose.

Techniques: Clarifying questions

Open Copilot

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