Lesson 1— Identifying Prompts

Prompts are the instructions you give to an AI system. For text-based tasks, they can be used in several key ways:

1. Content Gathering

You can start with a broad topic and use follow-up prompts to narrow down exactly what you need.

Example 1 – Broad → Narrow:

• Prompt 1 (broad):
  “Give me an overview of smart home devices for beginners.”
  → The AI gives a general list: smart lights, thermostats, security cameras, etc.
• Prompt 2 (narrowing):
  “Focus only on smart security cameras. List the main features that matter for a family with kids.”
• Prompt 3 (more specific):
  “Compare indoor vs outdoor smart cameras in a table including price range, installation difficulty, and privacy concerns.”

Example 2 – Structured research:

• Prompt:
  “Create a bullet list of pros and cons of electric cars for city drivers. Keep it under 10 bullet points.”

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2. Summarization

AI can condense long documents, articles, or reports into shorter summaries, bullet points, or key takeaways.

Example 1 – URL summarization (when supported by the tool):

• Prompt:
  “Summarize the main points of this article in 5 bullet points: https://www.example.com/article-on-renewable-energy.”

Example 2 – Text summarization:

• Prompt:
  “Summarize the following text into a short paragraph suitable for a LinkedIn post, focusing on the main benefits: [paste article text].”

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3. Content Creation and Ideation

AI can act as a creative partner to brainstorm ideas, draft outlines, or generate first drafts.

Example 1 – Idea generation:

• Prompt:
  “Give me 20 content ideas for TikTok videos about basic personal finance for teenagers.”

Example 2 – Outline creation:

• Prompt:
  “Create a detailed outline for a 10-minute YouTube video explaining the basics of cloud storage to non-technical users.”

Example 3 – First draft:

• Prompt:
  “Write a 300-word blog post introducing smart home devices to beginners. Use a friendly, non-technical tone.”