Exercise: Prepare the project as if AI were unavailable

Time: Allow 15–20 minutes for an initial pass; gathering the material may take longer.

Choose a real project and write down what you want it to achieve.
List what you would read or investigate, which questions you would ask and what you would retrieve from earlier work. Gather what is relevant and available; note what is still missing.
Sketch how you would tackle the project. Include your own ideas, reasons, constraints and uncertainties. Let the task determine how much detail you need.
Share the sketch and appropriate supporting material with AI. Ask it for 10 questions whose answers would help it understand the project and the choices that make it yours. You can use the wording below or put the request in your own words.
Answer the questions, add missing context and correct misunderstandings. Then choose what help you want. If the assistant proposes a different direction, compare the reasoning before deciding.

How it works

Clarify the purpose and how you would approach the work yourself.
Gather relevant reading, records, examples and knowledge from earlier work. Identify the questions you still need answered.
Make a sketch that connects your initial thinking, the material and the uncertainties. Use notes, a drawing, an outline or whatever makes the relationships clear to you.
Invite AI to get oriented by asking about the project. Use your answers to develop its understanding before asking for proposals.
Examine its contributions against your purpose and evidence. Make a conscious decision about what to use and what to investigate further.

Things to watch

Let the project determine the preparation. A small task may need a few notes; a substantial project may need documents, previous decisions and more investigation.
Mark what you know, what you assume and what you need to find out. Gaps are useful information too.
Treat the 10 questions as an opening to the conversation. Follow up where an answer reveals something important.
You can revise your sketch when you have a reason. Its purpose is to make your thinking available for examination and development.

Optional ways to involve AI

Use these examples as a starting point. Replace the square-bracketed fields with your own material.

Help us get oriented

Before using this example: Upload your sketch and the relevant material you are entitled to share, or paste them into the conversation.

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.

The thinking behind it

Imagine that AI is unavailable and the project still needs doing. Where would you begin? What would you read, who would you ask and what would you retrieve from earlier work? Follow that thinking far enough to understand what the project needs. You are bringing your knowledge and experience into the collaboration before asking the machine to contribute.

Ask what you would read, investigate and draw from earlier work if AI were unavailable. Gather that material and sketch how you would approach the task. Your experience, questions and initial thinking give the collaboration its starting point. Use them to examine what the assistant contributes.

Why start with a sketch?

Choose a project and ask yourself what you would do if AI were unavailable. What would you read? Which questions would you need answered? What would you dig out from earlier work? Gather the relevant material and sketch your own thinking. That gives the collaboration something that could only have come from you.

Glossary: Human-first principle
Ask Martin: What should I do before I ask AI for help?

The Sketch