4.1 Learning Goals

By the end of this section, your mandate is to:

• Differentiate between vague, low-effort prompts and precise, strategic prompts.

• Understand how context and format dictate the quality of an AI’s output.

• Apply these prompting skills to your own textbook content.

• Master the fundamental principle: Better input equals better output.

4.2 Why Prompts Matter

An AI is a mirror. It reflects the quality of the effort you put into your instruction. If you ask a weak, unclear question, you will receive a weak and unfocused answer. It is a predictable outcome.

My view is that a well-crafted prompt is not just a question; it is an act of intellectual clarity. When you give an AI a precise, detailed instruction, the answer improves dramatically in its clarity, accuracy, and usefulness. The rule is absolute: The quality of your prompt determines the quality of the response.

4.3 Simple Prompts

A simple prompt is the result of lazy thinking. It is usually short, vague, and gives the AI no direction. Prompts like “Explain digestion” or “Tell me about plants” are invitations for the AI to deliver broad, and often irrelevant, information. This approach is inefficient and yields low-value results.

4.4 Detailed Prompts

A detailed prompt is a professional instruction. It demonstrates that you have thought about what you need. It must provide three key elements: context, scope, and format.

• “You are my O/L Science coach. Explain the stages of digestion in humans in 4 steps using simple words.”

• “List 5 key points about plant nutrition, suitable for a Grade 10 exam answer.”

Notice how these prompts immediately force the AI’s output to become structured, relevant, and focused on a specific goal. This is how you take control of the tool.

4.5 The Role of Context

Context is what shapes the AI’s perspective. It is the job description you give the machine before you ask it to perform a task. Telling an AI “You are my study coach for O/L Science” immediately primes it to answer at the correct level and with the right focus.

Without context, the AI is guessing. It may give you content that is far too advanced, insultingly simple, or completely irrelevant to your needs. I believe context is the single most important element in a successful prompt.

4.6 Instruction Format

You must direct the AI to respond in a format that is immediately useful to you. Do not accept a wall of text when what you need is a structured list. You are the operator; you decide the format.

• List: Use for quick facts and summaries.

• Table: Use for direct comparisons.

• Essay/Paragraph: Use for practicing structured writing.

A clear instruction like, “Give me a table comparing aerobic and anaerobic respiration: process, oxygen use, energy output, example,” saves you the time of having to organize the information yourself.

4.7 Tone and Audience

You must always specify the intended audience for the AI's response. This is a matter of precision. An explanation for a Grade 10 student is fundamentally different from one for a university undergraduate.

• “Explain the human heart for a Grade 10 student.”

• “Summarize the French Revolution in 5 exam-style points.”

This simple step prevents answers that are too technical or too shallow. It ensures the AI’s output is calibrated to your exact requirement.

4.8 Worked Examples

The difference between a weak and strong prompt is the difference between confusion and clarity.

• Weak Prompt: “Explain digestion.”

• Strong Prompt: “You are my O/L Science coach. Explain digestion in humans in 4 stages: ingestion, digestion, absorption, egestion.”

• Weak Prompt: “Photosynthesis?”

• Strong Prompt: “Explain photosynthesis step by step, using simple language, and end with the chemical equation.”

4.9 Practice Drill

Your task is to rewrite the following vague prompts into precise, professional instructions.

1. “Heart”

2. “Maths question”

3. “Kings in Sri Lanka”

4.10 Applied Exercise

This exercise demonstrates the power of precise prompting.

1. Take the diagram of the human heart from your textbook.

2. Prompt 1: “Explain the human heart.”

3. Prompt 2: “Using the four main labels from my textbook diagram, explain the function of each part of the human heart. The explanation should be suitable for O/L exam revision.”

4. Compare the outputs. The second one is more useful because it is specific and goal-oriented.

4.11 Self-Check

1. Why are detailed prompts more effective than simple prompts?

2. Write one prompt that produces a list, one for a table, and one for an exam-style answer.

3. How does specifying the audience improve the quality of an AI’s response?

4.12 Key Takeaway

I believe in the law of prompting: Weak in, weak out. Clear in, clear out. This is not a suggestion; it is a technical reality. To make an AI work effectively as your study assistant, you must always provide context, structure, and audience.