Question

What is prompting?
using the meeting notes recorded by AI to form action items
using AI to conduct research and idea development
interacting with AI chatbots to achieve the desired output
relying on AI to help remember key points in a presentation

Answer 1

Prompting is the act of giving an AI system an instruction, question, context, or example (a “prompt”) in order to get a specific response or behavior. Good prompts are clear about the goal, provide necessary context, and often specify format and constraints.

Below I’ll evaluate each of your items and say whether it’s an example of prompting, with a short explanation and a sample prompt you could use.

1) Using the meeting notes recorded by AI to form action items
- Is this prompting? Yes (when you ask the AI to extract action items from the notes).
- Why: You provide the notes and instruct the AI to produce action items, assignees, deadlines, priorities, etc.
- Example prompt: “From these meeting notes, list each action item, assign a likely owner, suggest a due date, and give a one-sentence rationale for each.”

2) Using AI to conduct research and idea development
- Is this prompting? Yes.
- Why: You prompt the AI to summarize literature, generate ideas, compare options, synthesize findings, etc.
- Example prompt: “Summarize the five most recent advances in [topic], list their pros/cons, and suggest three research directions or product ideas.”

3) Interacting with AI chatbots to achieve the desired output
- Is this prompting? Yes — this is the core of prompting.
- Why: Every chat turn is a prompt; you guide the model to produce a desired output by asking, instructing, or giving examples.
- Example prompt: “Act as a technical editor and rewrite this paragraph to be clearer for non-technical stakeholders.”

4) Relying on AI to help remember key points in a presentation
- Is this prompting? Yes (if you ask the AI to extract, summarize, or create memory aids).
- Why: You prompt the AI to produce a concise summary, speaker notes, or mnemonic devices to help you remember key points.
- Example prompt: “Create a one-page cheat-sheet with the 6 key points of my presentation and a short mnemonic for each.”

Quick tips for effective prompting
- Be explicit about the goal and output format (bulleted list, table, email, etc.).
- Give relevant context or examples.
- Specify constraints (length, tone, level of detail).
- Iterate: refine prompts and ask for revisions or clarifications.

If you want, tell me one of the scenarios you’ll use and I’ll craft a ready-to-use prompt for it.