Prompt
Definition
The instruction or question you type into an AI tool. If you ask ChatGPT "write me an email declining a meeting," the whole thing — every word of it — is your prompt. The quality of what an AI produces depends heavily on the quality of what you ask. A vague prompt produces a vague result. A specific prompt produces something useful.
Why It Matters
Learning to write better prompts is the single most effective way to get more out of any AI tool.
What does that look like in practice?
Write me an email declining a meeting, polite but firm.' The whole instruction is your prompt.
What people actually mean when they say this
When someone says 'I asked the AI,' the thing they typed is the prompt, and how they worded it shaped everything they got back.
Last reviewed: March 2026
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