Common mistakes in AI prompts and how to fix them

When an AI assistant gives a poor answer, the cause is more often the prompt than the assistant. The same few mistakes account for most disappointing results. Each one below comes with a weak example and a better version.

1. Too little context

The assistant knows nothing about your situation. A request with no facts gets a general answer that fits nobody.

Weak: Write a message to my tenant.

Better: Write a polite WhatsApp message to my tenant. The rent for this month, due on the 5th, has not arrived. He has always paid on time before. Ask if there is a problem and when I can expect it. Under 50 words.

2. No reader named

Writing for a child, an officer and a customer differs in every sentence. If you do not say who will read it, you get a bland middle.

Fix. Add one line: "This is for..." with who they are and what they already know.

3. No length given

Assistants tend to write long. An answer three times the length you wanted is the most common complaint.

Fix. Give a number. "Under 80 words." "Five bullet points." "One paragraph."

4. Several jobs in one prompt

"Summarise this report, write an email about it, make slides and suggest next steps" produces four half-done jobs.

Fix. One job per message. Do the summary, check it, then ask for the email based on it.

5. Asking it for facts it cannot know

Current prices, today's news, the latest rule, your train's timing, your own exam's pattern. An assistant may answer anyway, from old or invented information.

Weak: What is the fee for renewing a driving licence?

Better: I need to renew my driving licence. What questions should I be ready to answer, and what should I look for on my state transport department's official website? Do not state fees or rules, because I will check those myself.

6. Not saying what to leave out

Unless told otherwise, an assistant may add an apology you did not want, a promise you cannot keep or a detail that is untrue.

Fix. State the limits. "Do not apologise." "Do not add any facts I have not given." "No offers or discounts."

7. Accepting the first answer

The first answer is a draft. Many people either use it as it is or give up.

Fix. Reply with what to change: shorter, simpler, firmer, without the second paragraph. Two follow-ups usually do it.

8. Vague words

"Make it better", "make it professional", "improve this". Better in what way? The assistant will guess, and often makes it longer and more formal.

Weak: Improve this email.

Better: Make this email shorter and more direct. Put the request in the first line. Keep all the dates. Do not make it more formal.

9. Pasting private information

Phone numbers, account numbers, customer names, office documents. It is unnecessary and risky.

Fix. Use labels and blanks. "Customer A." "Account number ________." Put the real details in by hand afterwards.

10. Trusting without checking

A fluent answer feels correct. Facts, figures, names, dates, quotations and rules in it may be wrong.

Fix. Check everything that matters against a source that is not the assistant, before you send, submit or act.

Three smaller slips

Asking a yes or no question when you want reasoning. "Is this plan good?" tends to get "yes". Ask "What are the weaknesses of this plan?" instead.
Leading the answer. "Don't you think option A is better?" invites agreement. Ask it to compare without telling it your preference.
Mixing instruction and material. If your instruction and the text to work on run together, the assistant may treat part of your text as an instruction. Put the instruction first and the material after a blank line, with a label such as "The text is below."

Before and after, in full

A complete example brings these together. Suppose a shopkeeper wants to tell customers about new opening hours.

Weak: Write a post about our new timings.

The result will be long, will invent a cheerful reason, and may add an offer that does not exist.

Write a short post for our shop's WhatsApp status and Facebook page.

Facts: from [DATE], [SHOP NAME] will open from 9 in the morning to 8 in the evening, Monday to Saturday. We will be closed on Sundays. Until now we were open every day.

Readers: our regular customers in the neighbourhood.

Under 40 words, friendly and clear. Give it in English and in Punjabi. Do not give a reason for the change and do not add any offer.

Replace the parts in [CAPITALS] first, or after pasting.

Every mistake on this page has been avoided: there is context, a reader, a length, one job, limits and no private detail. And the facts in it are the shopkeeper's own, so there is little to check.

A habit worth forming

When an answer disappoints you, do not blame the tool at once. Read your prompt again as if you were a stranger receiving it with no other information. What would that stranger have to guess? Add those things and send it again. After a few weeks you will write the fuller prompt the first time, without thinking about it.

This is an independent site. It is not connected with any company that makes AI assistants. The prompts are plain text and can be used in any AI chat assistant. An AI assistant can give wrong or made-up answers: check anything important before you rely on it, and do not paste private details into a prompt.