AI Basics for Business
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Giving AI Context
Of the five elements from the last lesson, context does the heaviest lifting. It's background information — who's involved, what's already happened, what constraints are in play, anything a sharp colleague would need to know before they could actually help you.
“Write a response to this customer complaint.”
“A customer says their order arrived two days late and damaged. This is their first order with us, order value was $85, and our policy is a free replacement for damaged items. Write a response that apologizes briefly, confirms the free replacement, and doesn't over-explain the shipping delay.”
The difference it makes: the first version leaves the AI to invent a policy, a tone, and a resolution out of nowhere — it might offer a refund you don't actually give, or apologize in a way that's off-brand. The second gives it everything it needs to write something you could send almost as-is.
A habit worth building: before writing a prompt for anything that isn't trivial, ask yourself what you'd need to tell a new hire so they could do this well. Whatever comes to mind is your context. It costs maybe 15 extra seconds to type and saves several minutes of going back and forth.