AI Skill Course
Module 04 of 08
Lesson 04 · 38 minutes · Beginner

Talking to AI is
a real
skill.

Same AI. Same model. Same moment. But one person gets junk and the other gets brilliance. The difference isn't the AI — it's how they ask. By the end, you'll write prompts most professionals can't.

You'll learn
5-part prompt formula
You'll see
Live token prediction
You'll get
Your prompt graded
Start talking
U
help me with email
Sure! What kind of email?
AI
U
Write a polite email to my manager Jen explaining I'll be 1 hour late tomorrow due to a doctor's appointment — keep it under 60 words.
Hi Jen, just a heads-up — I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning and will be about an hour late. I'll make up the time in the evening. Apologies for any inconvenience.
AI
Part 01 · How it really works

An LLM is just predicting
the next word. Over and over.

No magic. No "understanding." Just probabilities. Watch one word get chosen — then click any candidate to see how a different pick rewrites the story.

Step 1 of 6
What you're looking at The AI assigns a probability to every word in its vocabulary (~50,000 of them) as the most likely next word. It picks one. Adds it. Then does the whole thing again. That's the whole trick — repeated 100s of times to make a paragraph.
Part 02 · The formula

Every great prompt has
the same five parts.

Memorize this one structure and you're 80% of the way there. Click any tag on the right to see what that part does in a real prompt.

You are a seasoned travel writer who has lived in Tokyo for 10 years. I'm planning my first solo trip there next month and feeling overwhelmed by all the options. Write me a 3-day itinerary focused on authentic local experiences over tourist sights. Format as a day-by-day list with morning/afternoon/evening blocks. Avoid Shibuya Crossing and the Skytree — too touristy. Keep each activity description under 30 words.
// 01 · ROLE
Who should the AI be?
Sets the AI's voice, expertise, and perspective. "You are a..." or "Act as..." A travel writer answers differently than a budget hostel reviewer or a Tokyo grandmother. Skip this and you get a generic, average answer.
// 02 · CONTEXT
What's your situation?
Background the AI needs. Your goals, constraints, the broader picture. "I'm a solo first-timer" produces a completely different answer than "I'm bringing two kids under 10."
// 03 · TASK
What do you actually want?
The specific action. Be a verb-and-object person: "Write," "Create," "Summarize," "Compare," followed by exactly what. "Help me with Tokyo" fails. "Write a 3-day itinerary" wins.
// 04 · FORMAT
How should it look?
The shape of the output. Bullet points? Table? JSON? Paragraphs? 3 sentences each? Telling the AI the format upfront saves you from 4 back-and-forths trying to fix the layout.
// 05 · CONSTRAINTS
What to avoid?
The fences. Word limits, things to exclude, tone restrictions, audience requirements. Constraints aren't limitations — they're the secret to professional-grade output.
Part 04 · Hands on

Now type a prompt.
Let's grade it.

Write any prompt below — for an email, a recipe, a research summary, anything. We'll score it on the 5-part formula and tell you exactly what's missing.

Try a weak example Try a medium example Try a strong example
—
Write a prompt and click Grade
Part 05 · Knowledge check

Five questions.
You're halfway through the course.

Aim for 4/5 to move on. Wrong answers explain themselves.

Question 01 of 05

0/5

Continue
Module 04 complete

You just learned the most
valuable skill of the decade.

Prompt engineering isn't a fad — it's how the next decade of work will be done. You now have a 5-part formula, you understand token prediction, and you've felt the gap between a 1/5 prompt and a 5/5 one. Use it everywhere.

Up next · Module 05

AI that sees, hears & speaks

Computer vision, speech, and generative images. With a live in-browser object detector that uses your webcam — no install required.

Continue to Module 05