It’s Not AI, It’s How You Prompt
And how you re-prompt
AI is everywhere.
This tech super monster is supposed to write our novels, compose our symphonies, and design our images.
Instead, it’s mostly generating 800 variations of “10 Productivity Hacks That Will Change Your Life (Number 6 Will Haunt You).”
So, what’s wrong?
AI isn’t the problem. The problem is Kevin from accounting who asked it to “write a good blog post.”
That’s not a prompt.
You Can’t Spot AI, But You Can Smell a Bad Prompt from Space
There’s this notion floating around that AI-generated content is easy to spot. It sounds robotic. It reuses the same phrases over and over again. It’s boring.
Sure, sometimes it is.
But that has less to do with AI and more to do with the person feeding it prompts.
Bad prompt: “Write a blog post about marketing.”
Good prompt: Write a witty 700-word blog post on marketing strategies for solopreneurs, in the tone of a snarky Gen Z marketer who’s had too much coffee. Include pop culture references and 3 concrete, actionable tips. Start with a bold one-liner hook.”
Suddenly, you’re not just getting a wall of lukewarm nonsense.
Should you take that output and run with it? No. It still needs refinement. But you’re getting something clever, maybe even funny. Something more unique.
And don’t be mistaken: AI CAN create unique, natural, human-like content.
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Prompting 101
“Write me something” is not a personality.
So, how do you prompt?
Step 1: Be Specific
Bad Prompt: “Tell me about minimalism.”
Better Prompt: “Summarize the history of minimalism in design in under 300 words, using plain language, and end with a cheeky one-liner.”
✅ Tell the AI:
• What you want
• How long it should be
• What style/tone to use
• What to include or leave out
Think of it like this: If you don’t know what you want, AI definitely doesn’t either.
Step 2: Assign a Role or Persona
Bad Prompt: “Write a tweet.”
Better Prompt: “Pretend you’re a sarcastic tech bro on X explaining why you unsubscribed from 10 newsletters in one day. Make it funny.”
✅ You can say things like:
• “Act like a friendly professor.”
• “Be a Gen Z fashion influencer.”
• “Write like Morgan Freeman narrating a nature doc.”
AI loves a costume party. Give it a role, and it’ll show up in character.
Not that I do these things. I usually refer to my own writing as a reference of voice and tone. And you can do that too! It’s not bad, actually.
Step 3: Format Like You Care
Structure matters, in my opinion. Nothing worse than a 400 word block of text with no highlights, white spaces, or formatting. Unless it’s a novel. Even then…
Humans like structure and formatting.
Bad Prompt: “Make this interesting.”
Better Prompt: “Turn this into a listicle with bold headers, each section under 100 words. Highlight important phrases. Add enough white space to think in-between. Include one meme-worthy one-liner.”
✅ You can ask for:
• Lists
• Bullet points
• Tables
• Headlines
• Step-by-step instructions
• Social captions
Step 4: Use Constraints
Limitations = better results.
Examples:
• “In under 150 words”
• “Only use simple, 5th-grade reading level language”
• “Avoid using the word ‘authentic’”
• “Include one spicy hot take at the end”
• even a simple “don’t sound like AI” can work wonders sometimes
Step 5: Iterate
AI’s first output is rarely the best. Prompting is collaborative.
• “Make it funnier”
• “Give me 3 versions with different tones”
• “Now rewrite it for a LinkedIn audience”
• “Add more statistics”
• “Trim the fluff, keep the punch”
Bonus: Prompt Template Ideas
No, those are not prompts you HAVE to use. They’re ideas for you to reconfigure and personalize.
“Act as a [role]. Write a [type of content] about [topic], using [tone], no more than [word count].”
“Rewrite this in the style of [famous person or brand or, preferably, your own writing]. Keep it concise.”
“Create a [format] that teaches [concept] to [target audience] with [tone/style].”
The Bottom Line
The real problem isn’t the tech.
It’s the assumption that tech should just know what we mean. That it should mind-read our brilliance and fill in the gaps.
It can’t.
Yet, many people simply use it that way. And the results are lame-ass blog posts with no soul, no wit, and no structure.
AI needs breadcrumbs, clues, a vibe.
Of course, great readers, longtime editors, or simply AI-literate people will still know when something was written by AI, either in part or entirely.
But that’s not the point, is it? In the end, it only matters if the result is worth reading. Not who wrote or assisted with it.
Does that mean you should let AI write your entire blog post and everything else in the future? No. It helps to refine the output, add a line here or a paragraph there. Put your own twist on it. Then, it’s going to be great.
But AI surely helps with the boring (or tough) parts of writing. Getting started, drafting, outlining, generating first versions, summarizing, adding details or sources, inserting bullet points or tables, and so much more.
AI is not the enemy. Lazy writers are.
Burk, which AI do you find works best for you?