Make your first useful AI prompt
https://patrickz.ai/learn/make-your-first-useful-ai-prompt/

OUTCOME
Turn a short note into an accurate action list you can verify.

YOU NEED
Any chat assistant. Copy the fictional example below; no uploads, coding or paid features required.

1. Paste a small source
Use: “Maya drafts the invitation. Lee checks the venue details by Thursday. We have not chosen the event date.” Read it once yourself before asking the model anything.

2. Ask for an observable result
Request a table of action, owner and deadline using only the note. Explicitly require unknown where a field is missing. This is easier to check than an open-ended summary.

3. Check each cell
Maya owns the draft but has no deadline in the note. Lee checks venue details by Thursday. The event date is undecided. Compare the answer with these facts.

4. Make one targeted correction
If the model assigns Thursday to Maya, point to the exact mistake and ask it to revise only that row. Save the prompt and your checked answer as a reusable example.

PROMPT
Turn this note into a table with action, owner and deadline. Use only facts in the note. Write “unknown” when a deadline or owner is missing. After the table list open questions. Note: Maya drafts the invitation. Lee checks the venue details by Thursday. We have not chosen the event date.

EXAMPLE / EXPERIMENT
Expected result: invitation draft — Maya — unknown; venue-detail check — Lee — Thursday. Open question: what is the event date? Do not add a calendar date for “Thursday” without more context.

CHECK YOUR RESULT
[ ] No owner or deadline is invented.
[ ] You can point to the source of every cell.
[ ] You can explain one correction in plain language.

IF IT FAILS
If the table includes invented details, shorten the source and repeat the use-only-the-note rule. Always read the final answer; a better prompt reduces mistakes but does not eliminate them.

MY RESULT / NEXT CHANGE