AI School › Talking to AI · Lesson 39 of 130

🌫️ Avoiding foggy questions

Questions that are too general give general answers: always add one detail that brings them into focus.

Imagine taking a photo with the camera out of focus: everything is blurry, you can't tell what's there. Vague questions do the same: "tell me about the sea", "help me with school", "say something nice" are in the fog. The AI answers something, but generic and not very useful, because it doesn't know which photo you want in focus. The fix is simple: add at least one detail that narrows things down. Not "the sea", but "why is the sea salty". Not "school", but "how to study times tables in a fun way".

Try playing detective: in front of every vague question, ask yourself "which one? about what exactly? for whom?". You turn "tell me about animals" into "which animals live in the desert and how do they avoid dying of thirst?". See the difference? The second has a target. A focused question is a gift you give yourself, because the answer arrives ready to use. In the fog you walk slowly and take wrong turns; with a clear question you go straight to the goal.

🎒 Try it in class (or at home)

Write three vague questions and turn them into focused ones by adding a detail to each; read them aloud with a classmate.

← Lesson 38: Asking step by step · Lesson 40: Always checking what it says →

📱 Download the Android app (beta) iOS coming soon

Say what you mean. Get what you need.

Grace Certified, the AI coach that trains and certifies your prompt engineering, by Agora Intelligence.