You're Talking to AI the Wrong Way

Most people talk to AI like they're placing an order at a restaurant.

You tell them exactly what you want, then you wait for it to show up and complain if it's not right.

So here's what that looks like in practice.

Let's say you're trying to create an Instagram caption.

You ask AI to write one caption for a photo or carousel, and it hands you exactly that, one caption, shaped to satisfy the narrowest version of what you asked for.

If instead you ask for, say, five different options from playful to professional, then something changes.

AI stops guessing at the single right answer and starts generating real options, which means you finally get to do the part that requires your judgment, choosing the best one instead of settling for whatever showed up first.

In today's episode, Katie and I break down how we talk to AI, how we use open-ended instead of narrow comments, ideation instead of a single instruction, asking for a rough sample before you ever ask for a final product.

And then we're going to tell you two words, just two words, that we use more than anything else in our entire AI toolkit.

You're going to want to write these ones down.

This episode is a must listen, especially if you've ever gotten a flat generic answer and then decided AI just isn't that creative when you really never gave it room to be.

You'll walk away from the episode with five moves for your very next AI conversation and the two words that make all the difference in whether AI helps you or just fills up spaced in the text box.

Ask why before you narrow, then ask what else.