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Human AI Orientation · read-only lesson preview

Give your AI useful context

Turn a vague request into a useful conversation. Leave with a short context brief, reusable instructions and a way to judge whether they helped.

This reading version does not save progress or submit answers. The brief builder keeps a temporary draft in this browser tab; copy work you want to keep into your own notes. Have a pilot login? Open the saved-progress version.

Want your AI to help with the lesson? Give it the public course context. Read it yourself first, then choose what to share.

1. Choose something worth doing

Before this lesson: try Find your way around files and folders for a short self-check and scavenger hunt. Already comfortable finding and saving files? Start here.

About 25–35 minutes. You can pause and return. You need an AI chat you already use and somewhere to keep a few notes. A free account and typing are enough.

By the end, you will be able to choose relevant context, explain why it matters, and check whether it helped. You will keep a brief you can reuse.

Choose a small task

Try drafting an invitation, planning a manageable study session, or making a checklist for a hobby project. Choose something you can judge yourself. You can use this fictional example throughout: organise a small community event whose date and venue are not decided yet.

Start in your own notes

For the event, a useful result is a short invitation with clear spaces for the undecided details. Keep private information in your own notes; the course only asks for a short reflection.

Saving your place: in the signed-in version, use the button at the bottom of each page before taking a break. In this reading version, keep a note of your place. Text you type in your separate AI app stays there. Keep your reflection in your own notes; only the signed-in version can save it to an account.

2. See what context changes

Context is information that helps the AI understand this situation. It can include a purpose, an audience, a constraint or an example. The useful question is: what does it need for this task?

A vague request

Write an invitation for our event.

The AI has to guess the audience, tone and missing details.

A more useful brief

Draft a friendly invitation of about 80 words for neighbours who might enjoy a small community gathering. The date and venue are undecided. Leave clear spaces for them and do not invent arrangements. A useful draft explains the purpose and makes the missing details obvious.

The audience and undecided details belong here. The organiser's full address, personal history and unrelated work documents do not help this task.

Keep three things separate

Finlay’s tip · Keep notes you can reuse

I recommend Obsidian: a free note-taking app that keeps your notes as Markdown files in an ordinary folder. Keep your context brief, useful results and reflections there, then share only the relevant text with your AI.

Follow the Obsidian setup guide, or use a notes app you already know.

Saving notes on your device does not automatically share them with your AI. Asking an AI what it remembers can reveal claims to check, but it is not a complete audit of stored information.

3. Build your small context brief

Finlay’s tip · Having trouble prompting?

Try Prompt Cowboy (opens a new tab) to help turn a rough idea into a clearer request. Copy.ai’s Prompt Improver (opens a new tab) is another option. Both advertise free options; check Prompt Cowboy’s current plans (opens a new tab) or Copy.ai’s tool page for access details.

You do not need to become a prompt engineer. Use a helper to notice what would make your request clearer: the task, who it is for, relevant context, or what a useful answer should look like. Read its suggested prompt and remove any invented details before using it. Try a fictional task while exploring a new service.

Try one small improvement
  1. Start with a request such as “Write an invitation.” What would the AI have to guess?
  2. Add one useful instruction, such as “The date and venue are undecided; leave placeholders for them.” Predict what that should change.
  3. Try the revised request. Did the answer actually keep the placeholders? Keep or adjust the instruction based on what you see.

You can also ask the AI you already use: “Help me clarify this request. Ask me one question about an important missing detail, then help me rewrite it using my answer. Keep it simple and do not invent information.” Add your rough request after that.

A clearer prompt can help, but it does not guarantee a correct answer. Check the result against your goal; you can keep refining it through conversation.

Write short answers in your own notes. Use your task or the fictional event. Copy the starter below and replace the brackets.

I would like help with [small task].
It matters because [reason].
The result is for [audience or use].
Useful background: [two or three relevant details].
Please respect [constraint or boundary].
A useful result would [something I can check].
If an important detail is missing, ask me instead of guessing.

Choose one relevant note or example if you have one. Put its useful point into your own words and consider whether it is current and reliable. You do not need to upload a document.

Make one deliberate choice

Identify a detail you included and why it helps. Identify a detail you left out and why it is unnecessary or private. A shorter, relevant brief is often more useful than sharing everything.

Before you continue: predict one thing the AI should do differently because of your brief. For the event, it should leave the date and venue undecided.

4. Try it, check it, improve it

Bring the brief you just built into your AI, then return with its answer. Keep your prediction in view while you check what happened.

Automatic carry-over needs JavaScript. Use the brief and prediction you kept in your own notes, or return to the brief builder and copy them manually.

  1. Open your chosen AI app in another tab or switch apps on your phone. Start a fresh conversation.
  2. Paste only the context you chose to share. Ask it to do your small task.
  3. Read the result against your own sign of success. What is accurate, missing or guessed?
  4. Ask for one useful correction, or explain why you would keep the result as it is.
  5. Return here. Keep the context brief and useful result in your own notes.

A correction could be: “You supplied a date I have not confirmed. Remove it and use a clear placeholder. Tell me which other details still need checking.”

You can compare a vague request and your fuller brief, but results vary even with the same prompt. One comparison does not prove that context caused every change. Describe what you actually observed.

If you cannot open an AI app today

Use this fictional response to the event brief: “Join us this Saturday at Riverside Hall for a free community gathering!” It invents a date, venue and price. Rewrite it using placeholders, then explain which context the response failed to respect. You can complete the lesson using this route and try your brief with an AI later.

If the task feels too big

Ask for only the first sentence or three checklist items. Use the fictional event if you prefer. A useful outcome can also be deciding that AI is unsuitable for this task and explaining why.

Copy, switch, paste, and come back

Copying puts selected text on your device’s clipboard, ready to paste elsewhere. It leaves the original text in place. Copying something else usually replaces what is ready to paste.

  1. Select: drag across the text you want. In one of the course’s text boxes, click inside it and use Select All if you want the whole box. Many AI apps also have a Copy button below each reply.
  2. Copy: use the Copy command or the shortcut for your device below.
  3. Switch: click your AI’s browser tab or switch to its app. Keep this course tab open so you can return.
  4. Paste: click or tap inside the AI’s message box first, then paste. Read what appeared before you press Send.
  5. Come back: copy the AI’s answer, switch to this course tab, click inside the response box and paste. Only bring back text you want to keep here.
Mac shortcuts

Inside a text box: Command+A selects all, Command+C copies, and Command+V pastes. Hold Command and press Tab to switch apps. For two tabs in one browser, click the tab you want. You can also use the app’s Edit menu for Copy and Paste.

Apple’s shortcut guide (opens a new tab)

Windows shortcuts

Inside a text box: Ctrl+A selects all, Ctrl+C copies, and Ctrl+V pastes. Hold Alt and press Tab to switch apps. For two tabs in one browser, click the tab you want. You can also right-click selected text and choose Copy, then right-click the destination text box and choose Paste.

Microsoft’s shortcut guide (opens a new tab)

Phone or tablet

Use the course’s Copy button, or touch and hold text and adjust the selection handles, then tap Copy. Switch using your device’s app switcher or browser tab list. Touch and hold inside the destination text box and tap Paste. Menu wording varies by device and app.

The wrong text appeared, or nothing happened

Check that you selected the intended text and clicked inside the destination box. Copy the original again, then paste. If you replace something by mistake, use Undo (Command+Z on Mac or Ctrl+Z on Windows). The course also selects the text for manual copying if automatic copying is blocked.

A quick practice: type “I can bring my notes with me” in your notes app. Copy it into another blank note or text box, then return here. Check the words arrived unchanged before trying your AI brief.

Finlay’s tip · Practise the controls when you need them

For more guided practice, try Be Connected’s mouse-and-keyboard text-field activity (opens a new tab). Its computer basics course (opens a new tab) includes an introductory video and written transcript. Guest access is available; their site asks you to sign in only if you want to save progress. These are optional computer-control foundations, rather than a demonstration of this course’s AI workflow.

Sources checked 13 October 2026. Shortcuts and touch controls can vary by app. Keep this written guide handy if you prefer it to video.

5. Keep instructions you can reuse

Your context portfolio can grow from these notes. Select a few parts to turn into guidance you can reuse.

Working with me

Use plain language. Give me a small first step. Ask about important missing details rather than inventing them. Help me identify what I need to check myself.

This project

We are planning a small community event. Its date and venue are undecided. Keep those details as placeholders. A useful invitation is brief and welcoming.

Keep project-only details out of your general personal guidance. Write your own short versions, then check one against the result you just received. What would you change or keep, and why?

What are CLAUDE.md and AGENTS.md?

These are names some agent tools use for plain-text instruction files. The .md ending means Markdown: text with simple headings and lists. Claude Code uses CLAUDE.md; Codex and other supporting tools use AGENTS.md. Current Claude Code versions can also support AGENTS.md under particular conditions.

You can create the content of these files from your personal and project briefs. The tool determines where they belong and which it reads. They guide behaviour; they do not guarantee compliance or permanently train a model. You do not need to install a coding tool for this lesson: pasting the selected guidance into a chat works too.

Optional: I already use a supporting agent

Check its current instructions before saving a file: Codex instruction guide (opens a new tab) or Claude Code instruction guide (opens a new tab). Use a non-sensitive practice project, inspect which instruction sources loaded, and test one expected behaviour. If the feature is unavailable, use the copy-and-paste route.

6. Check your understanding

You saved your project brief on your device. In a fresh chat, the AI says it already knows your project. What is the most useful next step?

This is practice, not a graded exam. Read the feedback and try again if needed.

Check what context the tool actually has, share the relevant brief deliberately, and inspect the result.

Yes. Your saved notes, this chat and any memory features are different. Check the available controls and the result rather than relying on the AI's claim.

Assume every file on my device is available to the AI.

A saved file is not automatically shared. Decide what to provide and check what your chosen tool can access.

Paste my entire personal history so nothing is missing.

More information is not always helpful. Select what matters to this task and leave unrelated or private material out.

7. Save what you learned

In a few sentences, record:

Keep the full portfolio and private details in your own notes. In this reading version, your reflection stays in your own notes. In the signed-in trial, submitted reflections are saved to your account and visible to Finlay. They are not graded by AI.

Save your answer in your own notes. If you use the signed-in version, submit it and continue to the end to record completion. Completing the lesson records practice; it does not certify mastery.

You now have a starting context brief and personal/project guidance. Use them independently or bring them to later human–agent curriculum work. Before a new task, check what you need to learn, what the agent needs to be told, and what a useful result would look like.