Learner Notes

Status: Draft learner-facing summary.

The Big Idea

Prompting is how you begin. It is not the whole journey.

A useful prompt is not a magic spell. It is a request that gives the chatbot enough information to start helping.

Four Useful Handles

Ask yourself:

1. What am I trying to do?
2. What does the chatbot need to know?
3. What should the result look like?
4. What should it be careful about?

This is not a rigid formula. You can start naturally and improve through conversation.

The Repair Loop

Ask. Inspect. Notice. Adjust. Check again.

Two Safety Gates

Before you put information in:

• Is this private, confidential, or someone else’s information?
• Am I allowed to share it?
• Can I remove names or identifying details?

Before you use what comes out:

• Does this need verification?
• Could it affect someone’s health, money, employment, reputation, rights, or safety?
• Does a qualified human need to review it?

Remember

Be thoughtful about what goes in. Be responsible for what comes out.

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Source: modules/prompting-is-the-door-not-the-destination/learner-notes.md