AI Prompt Blog Post

I read a WSJ piece today about “AI champions” inside big companies who help convert skeptics. I’ve been part of Citi’s AI accelerator community since it started. I’ve been having a blast connecting with others across the firm who are using AI to improve the way we work.

One thing I’ve learned is the biggest time saves often come from simple prompts.

A personal example: I read a lot, I take notes directly in my books (plus my own table of contents inside the cover so I can find ideas later). Before AI, applying something I read meant re-reading sections.

Now with AI I only need to remember enough to convert into a prompt. The results are significantly better when I anchor the prompt in frameworks from books.

One of my favorites is Influence by Robert Cialdini. A prompt I’ll use looks like:
“Give me 5 ways to apply [concept - social proof] from the book [book - Influence by Robert Cialdini] to persuade [X person] to do [Y action]. [additional context here]”

I ask for 5-10 ways because a few will be throwaways, but there’s usually 1 or 2 that fit perfectly. Additional context goes a long way with AI and I highly recommend adding.

I’m still a believer that reading is important, even in a TLDR world. AI helps me use what I’ve learned faster.