Lesson 9: Draft, Critique, Improve

Prompt Engineering Basics · Lesson 9 of 10

The Big Idea

Good prompting is a conversation, not a single shot. Treat every first answer as a draft.

Prompt → Draft → Critique → Revise → Learn

AI is the first tool that can explain its own use. Ask it:

Situation	What to Ask
The answer feels generic	”What context was missing from my request that led to a surface-level answer?”
You’re not sure it’s right	”Which parts of your answer are you least certain about, and how could I check them?”
You want honest feedback	”What are the weakest parts of this, and what might be wrong?”
You want to stress-test a plan	”Assume this plan failed within six months. What were the three main causes?”
You want to get better	”Rewrite my original request the way an expert would have asked it.”

AI can state wrong facts with complete confidence. Fluent writing is not the same as correct writing. Check what matters against original sources.

Take your best budgeting answer and ask the AI for its three weakest points. Revise your prompt to fix one of them, and run it again.

Learn the principle. Then practice it.