Your Input Shapes the Output

---

Intro

The AI is not deciding how much to say at random. It is taking its cue from you. This module shows you how that works, and how to use it on purpose.

---

What is happening

When you send a short message, the AI reads it as: "a quick question, probably wants a quick answer." When you send a detailed message — one that explains your situation, what you need, and what a good response looks like — the AI reads it as: "this person wants something specific and thorough."

This is not a rule the AI follows. It is simply mirroring the style of what you sent. A one-sentence question gets a one-paragraph answer. A well-structured paragraph gets a well-structured response.

The good news is that you control this. If your responses are coming back thin or vague, more detail in your message will fix it. If they are coming back too long, keep your message shorter and add a stopping condition (B-06 covers this).

---

The exercise

This experiment takes about five minutes. You are going to send two versions of the same request and compare what comes back.

Step 1: Send Version A (short)

Copy this message, then personalise the topic in square brackets before sending:

Summarise this for me: [paste a short piece of text — a paragraph from an email, an article, anything you have nearby]

Send it. Read the response.

Step 2: Send Version B (detailed)

Start a new conversation so the AI is not building on the first one. Then copy this message and personalise every part in square brackets:

I'm a [your role] preparing for [brief description of what this is for — e.g. a team meeting, a presentation, a conversation with a client]. Summarise this in [format — e.g. 3 bullet points / a short paragraph] focusing on [the angle that matters most to you — e.g. the key risks / the next steps / the main finding]. Keep it under [length — e.g. 100 words / 5 bullet points].

[paste the same piece of text you used in Version A]

Send it. Read the response.

Step 3: Compare

Look at both responses side by side. Notice:

• Which one is longer?
• Which one is more specific to your situation?
• Which one would you actually use?

The difference is not because you used a magic formula. It is because you gave the AI more to work with.

---

COPY — PERSONALISE — USE

The Version B starter is your Copy-Personalise-Use template for this module. Here it is again, clean:

I'm a [your role] preparing for [context]. Summarise this in [format] focusing on [angle]. Keep it under [length].

[your text here]

How to personalise it:

[your role] — what you do, in a few words. "Marketing assistant," "secondary school teacher," "small business owner."

[context] — one sentence on what this summary is for. "A catch-up call with my manager." "My weekly team update." "Preparing for a job interview."

[format] — how you want the information shaped. "3 bullet points." "A short paragraph." "5 numbered steps."

[angle] — what matters most from this text for your purpose. "The key decisions made." "What I need to do next." "Any risks mentioned."

[length] — how much you want. "Under 80 words." "No more than 5 bullet points." "One sentence per point."

---

What good looks like

Version B should come back noticeably more tailored to your situation than Version A. It may not be perfect, but it should feel like it was written for you, not for anyone who asked the same generic question.

---

If this did not work

If both responses looked similar, check whether you personalised the Version B brackets fully. "I'm a [your role]" left unchanged will not help the AI; "I'm a part-time bookkeeper" will. Go back through each bracket and make sure it contains real, specific information.

If Version B came back very long despite the length you specified, that is worth noting — B-06 teaches you how to set a stopping condition that the AI is more likely to follow.

---

Next

Now that you have seen how your input style shapes the response, B-05 covers what happens when you ask for more than one thing at once — and why doing things one at a time works better.