How Do You Use AI?

To use AI, open an AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Microsoft Copilot, describe what you want in everyday language, and improve the result with follow-up messages. Start with a low-stakes task you already understand, give clear context about what you need, check the answer before relying on it, and keep sensitive information out. Most everyday AI use requires no technical skills.

How to start using AI in six steps

1. Pick one AI assistant. General-purpose assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot all offer free versions. Choose one and stick with it while you learn.
2. Choose a real, low-stakes task. Summarize an article you have read, draft an email or explain a topic you are curious about. Pick something where you can easily judge the result.
3. Describe what you want clearly. Explain the task, the context and the kind of result you want, just as you would to a capable colleague.
4. Review the response. Notice what is useful, what is off and what is missing.
5. Refine with follow-up messages. Ask for changes: shorter, more formal, more examples, a different structure.
6. Check anything important. Verify facts, numbers and sources before you use them, and do not share confidential or personal information.

That is the core of using AI well.

How to ask AI for what you want

What you type into an AI tool is called a prompt. You do not need special commands. Clear, specific requests in everyday language work best.

Guidance from the companies that build these tools makes the same point. Google's documentation says "an effective and efficient way to customize model behavior is to provide it with clear and specific instructions." Anthropic offers a practical test: "Show your prompt to a colleague with minimal context on the task and ask them to follow it. If they'd be confused, Claude will be too."

A simple structure for better prompts

A strong prompt usually covers some of these elements:

• Task: what you want done.
• Context: background the AI needs, such as who the audience is and why you are doing this.
• Format: how you want the result, such as bullet points, a table, a short email or a certain length.
• Examples: a sample of the style or output you want, if you have one.
• Constraints: anything to avoid or include.

Here is the difference it makes:

Vague prompt: "Write an email about the meeting."

Clear prompt: "Write a short, friendly email to my team confirming that Thursday's project meeting is moving to Friday at 2 p.m. Mention that the agenda hasn't changed and ask anyone who can't attend to reply by Wednesday. Keep it under 100 words."

The second prompt gives the AI what it needs to produce something usable on the first try.

Examples are especially useful. Anthropic's guidance notes that "examples are one of the most reliable ways to steer Claude's output format, tone, and structure." If you want writing in a particular style, paste in a sample. The LATHIC Glossary covers the broader skill of prompt engineering.

Keep the conversation going

The first response is a starting point. AI assistants can use what you said earlier in the same conversation, up to a limit, so you can refine the result step by step. OpenAI's guidance notes that getting good results "often requires an iterative approach": start with a prompt, review the response and refine.

Useful follow-up requests include:

• "Make this shorter and more direct."
• "Rewrite this for someone who has never heard of the topic."
• "Give me three different versions to choose from."
• "Turn this into a table."
• "What are the weaknesses in this plan?"
• "Which claims here should I double-check?"
• "Ask me any questions you need answered to do this well."

If a conversation goes off track, starting a fresh chat with a clearer prompt is often faster than correcting it.

The best ways to use AI

AI assistants are most useful for tasks that involve language, information and ideas. Here are practical starting points, with example prompts.

At work

For learning

• Explain a concept: "Explain how interest rates affect mortgage payments, using a simple example."
• Test yourself: "Quiz me with five questions on the basics of project management, one at a time."
• Practice a language: "Have a simple conversation with me in Spanish about ordering food, and correct my mistakes."
• Work through something step by step: "Walk me through how to create a pivot table in a spreadsheet."

In everyday life

• Planning: "Plan a three-day weekend itinerary in Chicago for two adults who like food and architecture, on a moderate budget."
• Comparing options: "What should I consider when choosing between leasing and buying a car?"
• Writing difficult messages: "Help me write a kind but clear message to a neighbor about noise late at night."
• Organizing information: "Turn these messy notes into a checklist for moving apartments."

Check the output before you rely on it

AI assistants can be wrong while sounding completely sure of themselves. OpenAI's help center warns that ChatGPT "can produce incorrect or misleading outputs" and "might sound confident" even when it is wrong.

Build a few habits:

• Verify facts, numbers, names and quotes against reliable sources.
• Open the sources when a tool provides links, and confirm they say what the AI claims.
• Be most careful with health, legal, financial and safety questions. OpenAI's terms of use say its output should not be relied on "as a substitute for professional advice."
• Read before you send. You are responsible for anything you share or publish.

What Is an AI Hallucination? explains why AI makes things up and how to catch it.

Protect your privacy and your organization's information

Before you paste something into an AI tool, think about who could see it.

• Keep sensitive information out. Avoid entering passwords, financial account details, confidential business information and other people's personal information.
• Follow your workplace rules. Many organizations approve specific AI tools for work and restrict what data can be used with them.
• Check your data settings. In ChatGPT, you can turn off the "Improve the model for everyone" setting so your conversations are not used to train its models, or use Temporary Chat. OpenAI says temporary chats are not used to improve its models while they remain temporary, though it may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes.
• Know how your tool handles training data. Anthropic, for example, began asking users of its consumer Claude plans in 2025 to choose whether their chats can be used to train its models. For new or resumed chats, it keeps data for up to five years for users who allow training and 30 days for those who do not.

When not to use AI

AI is a strong assistant, not a replacement for your own judgment. Be cautious about using it:

• as the final word on facts, unless you have checked them
• for high-stakes decisions about health, money or legal matters without professional input
• for current events, unless the tool can search for up-to-date information
• with confidential information in tools that are not approved for it
• where authenticity matters, such as schoolwork that must be your own or personal messages where your own voice is the point, unless AI use is allowed and disclosed

Where to go from here

Once AI is part of your routine, you can explore AI features built into the software you already use, or specialized tools for tasks you do often. What Are AI Tools? maps the main types. To build deeper skills over time, see How to Learn AI Skills.