What should I do before I ask AI for help?
Sketch what you would do without AI: your purpose, what you know and what you still need to find out.
Start by asking yourself what you would do if AI were not available. What would you read? Which questions would you need answered? What information would you dig out from earlier stages of the project?
Gather the material you would need to do the work well. Put your initial thinking into a sketch: what you want to achieve, what you already know, how you would approach it and where you need to find out more. Bring your experience into that preparation. It gives the collaboration a direction that comes from you.
There are no magic prompts. What we practise here are thinking patterns. Once you have a sketch, you can invite AI to ask questions that help it understand the project. For example, upload your sketch and say:
Help us get oriented
This is my initial thinking about a project we are going to work on. Give me 10 questions about the project so that my answers will help you get better oriented and help keep the project uniquely mine.
Use your answers to develop the shared understanding before moving on to proposals. You can adapt the wording; the preparation and the choices are what matter.
— Martin Poliačik
Try it: The Sketch. Put your own thinking on paper before asking AI for a proposal.