Skip to main content

Specify Useful Assistance

What this concept is​

A useful assistance request states the task, relevant context, constraints, desired output and acceptance criteria. Prompting is specification and communication, not a guarantee of correctness obtained through special wording.

Why it matters here​

You want help that makes a skill easier to learn or a defect easier to isolate. A vague request often produces a large answer that is difficult to evaluate.

Concrete example​

Instead of “Improve my program,” try:

Task: help me diagnose this count function; do not rewrite it yet.
Contract: count every session at least 25 minutes, retaining duplicates.
Input: [24, 25, 25, 26]. Expected: 3. Observed: 2.
My hypothesis: equal durations were removed.
Request: propose one small experiment that distinguishes deduplication
from an exclusive > comparison. Explain its predicted results.

The assistant has a bounded job. You can compare its proposed experiment with the contract. If it changes the expected answer to 2, you have evidence to reject that suggestion.

Common confusion / misconception​

A role such as “act as a senior engineer” does not replace a contract. Do not add unrelated private files as context. A structured format can make a response easier to parse while leaving its meaning wrong.

How to use it​

First write your own expectation. Provide the smallest relevant context, including version details when they affect behavior. Ask for one step, then test it. If the answer is ambiguous, clarify the missing condition rather than repeatedly asking for a “better” answer. For code changes, request a small diff and an explanation of affected behavior.

Check yourself​

Why specify duplicates explicitly? Because counting records and counting unique durations are different tasks. Without the condition, a plausible cleanup suggestion can change the requirement.

Mini drill or application​

Write three prompts about the same topic: a hint request, a debugging experiment request and a review request. Define how you will verify each response. Do not require a live account to draft them.

Read this only if stuck​

UNESCO AI competency framework motivates critical, purposeful use. Our prompt format is a practical local scaffold, not a proven universal prompt recipe.