WTF IS A PROMPT, ANYWAY?

A couple months ago, I finally surrendered to the AI hype train and fired up ChatGPT, fully expecting it to be the digital equivalent of a pet rock with a keyboard.

Spoiler alert: I was wrong. But not for the reasons you think.

Sure, I'd seen the tech-bro ejaculations masquerading as headlines: "AI IS CHANGING THE WORLD!" "USE CHATGPT TO MAKE $10,000 WHILE UNCONSCIOUS!" "THIS ROBOT WILL REPLACE YOUR JOB, YOUR THERAPIST, AND DEFINITELY YOUR DISAPPOINTING SEX LIFE!"

But what these dudes conveniently left out is that AI won't do JACK SHIT if you talk to it like you're ordering at a drive-thru with a broken speaker.

So I started learning the one thing separating the sad normies from people actually extracting value from this silicon beast: PROMPTING.

🧩 WAIT—WHAT THE HELL IS PROMPTING?

A prompt is what you type into the AI to make it dance for your amusement.

Sounds simple, right? WRONG. It's not just about typing "write me a poem about butts" and hitting Enter. It's about how you ask, what context you provide, and whether you have even the slightest clue what you're trying to accomplish.

Think of prompting like giving instructions to an alien intern with a Harvard degree but who has never actually met a human being. It knows EVERYTHING and NOTHING simultaneously.

🤖 AI ISN'T MAGIC—IT'S A MATH NERD IN A SEXY TRENCH COAT

AI can sound more confident than a karaoke singer on their fifth cosmo, even when it's catastrophically wrong. I've learned (by failing spectacularly) that no matter how smooth and professional the response looks, I still need to:

• Cross-check that shit like my life depends on it.

• Ask follow-up questions because the first answer is always sus.

• Use my actual brain grapes instead of outsourcing my entire consciousness.

And yeah, sometimes the robot just straight-up LIES TO YOUR FACE. Not maliciously—just confidently incorrect. One time it said to me, “In my professional opinion….”  Wait, what? Not because it's plotting world domination, but because it's confidently incorrect—like that guy at your high school reunion who peaked at 17 and is now explaining cryptocurrency to anyone trapped in conversation with him.

🛠️ WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM MY ROBOT OVERLORD

1. Prompting is a skill. You don't need a computer science degree—you just need to stop talking to AI like you're sending a text to your mom.
   

2. Double-check EVERYTHING. I once had ChatGPT convince me that it was creating a full website while it was caught in a “perfectionist loop.”  We’ll dive deeper on that one in a later post.
   

3. AI works best when you shut up more. If your prompt looks like the terms and conditions of iTunes, you're doing it wrong. Give it just enough info, then get out of the way.
   

🧬 NEXT ISSUE: MAKING AI YOUR DIGITAL BITCH

In the next issue, I'll break down the "cheat codes" that transformed ChatGPT from a fancy Magic 8-Ball into something actually useful in my daily life—how I use it for research, content, and business planning without becoming one of those people who lists "Prompt Engineer" on their LinkedIn.

(If my technologically challenged ass can do it, you definitely can.)

🪑 CTRL+ALT ELITE: AI WORDS YOU CAN PRETEND TO KNOW AT DINNER PARTIES

• Prompt – The digital incantation you type to summon answers from the void.
  

• LLM (Large Language Model) – What tech bros call ChatGPT's brain when they want to sound important. It's basically autocomplete that went to college.
  

Hallucination – When AI confidently makes shit up like your ex explaining why they didn't text back. (Yes, this is the actual technical term, which tells you everything you need to know about the state of AI.)