Thoughts Brewing Blog

AI Quick Tips 255: General tips when using AI chatbots

Written by Damien Griffin | Nov 29, 2025 2:45:00 PM

True to the name, these are some quick tips to think about when using AI chatbots to help you get better output:

  • Use more examples in your prompts
    • Both what to do and what not to do
  • Don’t expect the AI tools to do more than 85% of the work
  • Try different tools to see which one works for you
    • There is no “best”
  • Avoid Waluigi
  • Enjoy when the output is laughable
    • Use it as a learning opportunity
    • And entertainment - you can actually laugh at it
  • Use the 10-80-10 principle
    • 10% prompting
    • 80% AI tool
    • 10% Review/Edit output
  • Think like a manager that is delegating to a literal-minded, hyper-productive employee
  • Make the implicit, explicit
  • Don’t let AI think for you!
  • Don’t let AI make decisions!
  • Prompt structure, length, and complexity are directly related to the expected quality level and accuracy of the output
    • Higher quality output will require a more structured, longer, and/or more complex prompt