Most people's first message to a chatbot is a question, like "what can you do?". The answer is a list, and the list is not useful. A better first message is a small job. Here is one: you have a leaking tap and some scribbled notes, and you need to message your landlord.
The whole task, in five steps
- 1
Say what you want made
"Write a short message to my landlord" is a task. The model now knows the shape of the answer.
- 2
Give it the raw material
Paste your notes underneath, however messy. It will sort them out.
- 3
Add one or two constraints
Polite, under 100 words, mention the date I first noticed it. Constraints are how you get the version you want first time.
- 4
Read the draft
Not skim. Read. Check every fact it used came from your notes.
- 5
Ask for one change, then copy it out
"Make it a bit friendlier" or "add that I am home after 5pm". Then copy the result.
Try it
Run the landlord message yourself
What just happened
You did not phrase anything carefully. You gave it a job, some scraps, and two rules, and it produced something usable. That pattern (task, material, rules) is the whole of talking to AI, and there is a separate short course, How to Talk to AI, if you want to get good at it. For now, notice that the reply is a draft. It might be slightly stiff. That is what the next lesson fixes.
Knowledge check
Which opening message is most likely to get a useful reply on the first try?