Forget Prompting Techniques: How to Make AI Your Thinking Partner

Using AI as a co-intelligence, as I did while writing, is where AI is the most valuable. Figure out a way to do this yourself if you can. As a starting point, follow the first principle (invite AI to everything) until you start to learn the shape of the Jagged Frontier in your work. This will let you know what the AI can do and what it can’t. Then

people will call this, like, prompt engineering or prompt design. Um, I think it makes it sound more complicated than it is, but the big key to working with AI tends to be realizing that you can kind of talk to it like you would a person.

You actually have likely read enough at this point to be a good prompt engineer. Let’s start with the third principle I shared earlier—treat AI like a person and tell it what kind of person it is.

It’s crucial to keep a critical eye on and treat the AI as a tool that works for you. By defining its persona, engaging in a collaborative editing process, and continually providing guidance, you can take advantage of AI as a form of collaborative co-intelligence.