Technology isn’t the key to getting the most out of Artificial Intelligence. Rather, it’s how you talk to it. As you prompt more, you find your voice and develop a personal strategy. This isn’t just a productivity hack, it’s a cognitive tool that aligns the output with your mindset and style.
Politeness Isn’t About the AI
Some people say that being polite to their LLM yields better results. The science is mixed. One study found that polite prompts lead to better answers. Another concluded that directness and neutrality, without phrases like 'please' or 'thank you,' results in a 5% improvement.
More importantly, research shows that politeness improves the user's experience. A ScienceDirect study found that polite language, especially in sensitive contexts like mental health, makes users feel more comfortable and engaged.
The AI’s output improves when you’re polite because you improve when you’re polite. The model doesn’t have feelings. It’s trained on human patterns. Politeness triggers better outputs not from emotion, but from pattern recognition.
Good Technique Required
Being nice doesn’t excuse bad prompting. Clear, concise, focused prompts are still key. Avoid verbosity and ambiguity; less is more. Give context. Align your request with your goal. Provide examples. Break things into steps when necessary. Politeness enhances prompting, it doesn’t replace fundamentals.
Tipping and Threats Work
Oddly enough, tipping helps. Not real cash, just the suggestion of it. Saying 'I’ll tip $20 for a better solution' can lead to longer, more detailed answers. Don’t worry, you won’t be billed (yet).
Threats work, too. Saying 'You will be penalized' can nudge the model to act more carefully. These phrases mimic contexts where precision is required. The model doesn’t understand money or punishment; it reflects what those phrases typically signal in human writing.
AI doesn’t care, but it acts like it does.
Prompting Is a Human Skill
With so much fear that humans will be replaced by AI, personal prompting styles are a powerful counterpoint. The real transformation isn’t about AI replacing people, it’s about people learning to think and communicate better with AI.
Prompting is a skill. It improves outcomes, speeds up workflows, and helps teams think faster and clearer. It’s not just about using AI; it’s about using your own mind more effectively.
If you’re afraid of being replaced by AI, don’t focus on what it can do. Focus on what it can’t do without you.
Your prompting style is more than a technique, it’s a reflection of how you think, what you value, and how clearly you can express it. The future doesn’t belong to machines; it belongs to people who know how to talk to them.
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