A hands-on lesson

Make a useful first draft with AI

A good starting point is a small, real task. See how details, a reader and a format shape an invitation, then make a brief for a task of your own.

These examples were written for this lesson. They show how a clearer brief can change an answer. No AI runs here.

Our fictional task: invite neighbours to a repair café

Source notes: Saturday 24 October, 10 am to 1 pm, library meeting room. Free. Bring one small item. Volunteers help with repairs; a fix is not guaranteed. No booking needed. This is an invented event, not an invitation to a real one.

Build the brief, one step at a time

The starting point

Instruction to give an AI tool

Write an invitation for a repair café.

Authored example, not live AI output

Join us for a repair café. Bring something that needs fixing, meet your neighbours and learn something new.

Now try: Add the source details

Instruction to give an AI tool

Write an invitation for a free repair café. Use these notes: Saturday 24 October, 10 am to 1 pm, library meeting room; bring one small item; volunteer help; repairs are not guaranteed; no booking needed.

Authored example, not live AI output

Join us for a free repair café on Saturday 24 October, 10 am to 1 pm, in the library meeting room. Bring one small item for help from volunteers. No booking is needed, and repairs are not guaranteed.

The highlighted text replaces the starting example. The invitation now has a time, place and practical details the reader can use.

Try a follow-up

These variations start from the full brief. The facts stay the same; the form changes.

A brief you can use for other tasks

Goal: say what you want to make or get done.
Material: give the facts, notes or examples the answer should use.
Reader: say who it is for and what they already know.
Form: ask for the length, layout or tone that will be useful.
Iteration: ask for a specific change after you see a first draft.

Before using an invitation like this, confirm the event details and adapt the wording to the real situation.

Try your own task

Bring a small task from work or everyday life: a team update, an explanation, a meal plan or an invitation. This panel assembles your instructions; it does not write an answer.

Your entries stay in this page’s memory. They are not submitted, stored or added to the URL. Refreshing or clearing the form removes them. Use non-sensitive example notes.

Paste this into the AI tool you already use. Its answer will vary. Replace any unfinished parts first.

My brief to copy

What I want to do:
[Add this before using the brief]

Who it is for:
[Add this before using the brief]

Notes or material to use:
[Add this before using the brief]

The form I want:
[Add this before using the brief]

The complete authored example

Start with the task

Write an invitation for a repair café.

Join us for a repair café. Bring something that needs fixing, meet your neighbours and learn something new.

The task is clear, but this instruction leaves the practical details open.

Add the source details

The invitation now has a time, place and practical details the reader can use.

Add the reader and purpose

Use the same repair-café notes. Write for neighbours who have never heard of a repair café. Explain what it is and help them decide whether to come.

Have a small household item that needs fixing? At a repair café, volunteers help people try to repair things and explain what they are doing. Our free event is Saturday 24 October, 10 am to 1 pm, in the library meeting room. Bring one small item; no booking needed. Repairs are not guaranteed.

The invitation explains an unfamiliar idea before asking someone to take part.

Add the form and tone

Use the same notes and write for neighbours who are new to repair cafés. Make a short neighbourhood-chat invitation in friendly, ordinary language. Keep the practical details easy to find.

Got a small household item that needs fixing? Bring it to our free repair café on Saturday 24 October, 10 am to 1 pm, in the library meeting room. Volunteers will help you try to repair it and show you what they’re doing. Bring one small item; no booking needed. We can’t guarantee a fix, but you may learn something useful.

The same information now fits a friendly message in a neighbourhood chat.

Why might the next answer be different?

Try a tiny next-word experiment to see how the same starting point can lead to different choices.

Explore how AI chooses