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Practical resources

Learn, explore and make progress with AI

Ready-to-copy prompts, a plain-English glossary and selected reference sources to explore further.

Prompt libraryGlossaryReference sources

Library

Prompts ready to adapt

Copy a prompt, replace the text in brackets and adapt it to your situation. Use only material you are authorised to share with your chosen assistant.

Start any task

I am [role], working on [situation]. I need [outcome] for [audience]. Reply as a [format], in [length], with a [tone] tone. Before answering, ask any questions you need.

Summarise for a decision-maker

Summarise this text for someone with two minutes: three key points, one risk and one decision to make. If information is missing, write “to be confirmed”. [paste the text]

Turn notes into actions

Turn these notes into a table: action / owner / deadline. Then list unanswered questions. Do not invent details. [paste the notes]

Adapt a message for three audiences

Rewrite this message in three versions: for my manager (formal), my team on WhatsApp (direct, three lines) and the public (plain language, no jargon). [paste the message]

Honest criticism

Here is my idea: [describe it]. Act as a sceptical expert. Give the five most serious objections, ranked by significance, and what I should check first.

Check an answer

List each factual claim in your previous answer, flag uncertainty and explain how I can check it against an original source.

Save mobile data

Reply very concisely in plain text, without an introduction or conclusion. Maximum 120 words.

Learn a topic quickly

Explain [topic] to an intelligent professional new to the subject, using an example from West or Central Africa. End with three questions to check my understanding.

Prepare for an interview or negotiation

I need to [negotiate / attend an interview] with [person] about [topic]. Play the other person's role. Ask one question at a time, then give feedback on my answers.

Glossary

AI terms, simply explained

Artificial intelligence (AI)
Methods that enable machines to carry out tasks associated with human intelligence, such as interpreting text, recognising images or supporting decisions.
Generative AI
AI that produces new content — text, images, audio or video — in response to instructions.
Large language model (LLM)
A model trained on large amounts of text to generate language. Many conversational assistants are built around language models.
Conversational assistant (chatbot)
An interface for interacting with an AI model in everyday language.
Prompt (instruction)
The request you give AI. Its clarity and context can strongly influence the response.
Hallucination
An incorrect or invented AI response presented confidently, such as a false quote, number or source.
Context
Information you give AI about your situation, task and goal.
Training data
Text, images or audio used to develop a model. They influence its capabilities, limitations and biases.
Bias
A tendency to produce unbalanced results, for example by under-representing some languages, cultures or regions.
Deepfake
AI-generated or manipulated images, video or audio that imitate a real person.
AI agent
An AI system that can take several steps — such as searching and drafting — towards a goal, with varying degrees of autonomy.

Explore further

Reference sources

References from established institutions. Some documents are large, so consider opening them on Wi-Fi. Source language is indicated below.