PrivateBox · Learn · Introduction to AI
AI Dos & Don’ts
The Lesson 4 rules on one page. Stick it next to the kettle.
The ten-second test
Can I judge the output myself? Is being wrong cheap? Two yeses: green light. Any no:
slow down. Two nos is the danger zone. That is not where AI helps you, it is where it helps you fail fluently.
Do
- Give it source material.Paste the text, the facts, the numbers. Grounded beats guessed.
- Ask for options, not one answer.Three drafts to choose from beat one to argue with.
- Use it to critique your work.A demanding editor on tap, before anyone else sees it.
- Make it explain things.Anything you don’t understand, at any level, with analogies.
- Start fresh chats often.New task, new chat. Restate what matters.
- Give it an out.“Say ‘I don’t know’ if unsure” measurably reduces invention.
Don’t
- Paste secrets into free public tools.Client data, contracts, credentials: never into unvetted services.
- Outsource judgement.Decisions with your name on them stay yours.
- Trust its memory over documents.It has no file on you, your company, or your contract.
- Skip verification on what matters.Especially specific numbers and citations, the classic tells.
- Ask leading questions.“Why is X great?” gets you a cheerleader, not an answer.
- Judge AI by a free tier.You may have only met the intern’s younger sibling.