Prompt
What you type or say to an AI in a turn: your question, your instructions and anything you attach.
A prompt is everything the model gets from you in a turn: the question, the instructions around it, any text or files you attach. Apart from what the app adds (memory, instructions you set earlier, search results), the model has nothing else to go on about your situation.
That's why the same question gets very different answers depending on what surrounds it. "Write a reply to this email" leaves the model to guess who you are, what you want and how formal to be. Add who it's to, what you need from them and one line about tone, and it stops guessing. Most disappointing answers trace back to a detail that seemed too obvious to mention.
For example
"Summarise this" is a prompt. "Summarise this contract for a tenant: list anything I must pay or do, with the clause number" is a better one.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet prompt in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
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