🌱 Why this lesson matters

If you’ve ever felt disappointed by AI’s output, it probably wasn’t because the tool was broken.
It was because the prompt didn’t give the AI what it needed to help you.

That isn’t a failure on your part. It’s because no one taught you how to shape prompts this way.

🌱 The common reasons prompts fail

Here’s what trips people up most often:

• Vagueness: The request is too general, so AI fills in the blanks with generic patterns.
Example: Write a blog post about creativity.

• Lack of context: The AI doesn’t know what style, tone, or purpose you want, so it guesses.
Example: Summarize this text but you don’t say for whom or for what.

• Mixed or unclear instructions: AI gets confused if you pack in too many directions without structure.
Example: Write me an email that’s casual but formal, short but detailed, fun but serious.

• No format guidance: AI doesn’t know what structure you expect, so it defaults to bland or awkward shapes.
Example: Create a plan without saying what kind of plan or what level of detail.

🌱 Your lived experience of this

Think about the last time AI let you down.
What were you trying to do? What did you type?
Write down that prompt as best you remember it.

Now imagine you had added just one bit of clarity or context. What would that prompt look like? What might the AI have done differently?

🌱 Why this happens

AI doesn’t understand your intention.
It predicts based on patterns.
If you leave gaps, it fills them in with the most common, average response it can find.

🌱 What’s next

In the next lesson, you’ll build your first supportive prompt. You’ll see how small shifts in clarity and structure help AI feel like a partner, not a puzzle.