DIY resources · Your AI assistant
What does my AI assistant need to know?
Three things, written once: how you sound, what you do and for whom, and your rules. Set it up once. Use it on real work.
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A sample, worked through
Same request, two ways.
In the sample, an owner asks an AI assistant to reply to a customer who asked about Thursday. Asked cold, it writes a stiff, generic reply. Then the owner writes a short setup: how they sound, what their job is, and their rules. They ask it what it still needs to know, and it asks which address and what time. The same request then comes back short and plain, in the owner's voice, as a draft for the owner to send.
A sample. Not a real business.
- 1 of 4Asked cold, from nothing.The way most of us use it: like a search box. It sounds like a press release.
- 2 of 4Write the setup once.How you sound, what you do and for whom, and your rules.
- 3 of 4Ask what it still needs to know.One line turns a guesser into an interviewer.
- 4 of 4The same request, in your voice.A draft. You read it, and you send it.
The answer
Write a short setup: how you sound, what your job is and who you write for, and the rules it must follow. Save it where every new chat starts. Then your AI assistant drafts, and you decide.
Key points
- A cold request gets a generic answer. A short setup gets your voice.
- How you sound: let it read two or three of your own sent emails.
- Your job: what you do, and who you write for.
- Your rules: your AI assistant drafts, you send. When in doubt, leave it out.
- When a reply is off, fix the setup, not just that one reply.
The search-box problem
Most of us use an AI assistant one question at a time, starting from nothing every time. It never learns the job, so we redo the setup in every conversation. Or we skip it, and get a reply that sounds like a press release.
Think of the ideal helper instead: someone who already knows your business, remembers how you like things done, has things ready before you ask, and handles the routine so you can do the work only you can do. A short setup is where that starts.
Write your setup in three parts
- How you sound. Paste in two or three of your own sent emails, with names and personal details taken out, and ask it to describe how you sound. Keep what rings true.
- What you do, and who you write for. One or two plain sentences.
- Your rules. What it must always do, and never do. Start with two: your AI assistant drafts and you send, and when in doubt, leave it out. Then add your own.
A sample setup
How I sound: Warm, plain and brief. I open with the person's name, get to the point in the first sentence, keep paragraphs short, and close with "Thanks," and my first name. No jargon and no exclamation points. My job: I run a two-person heating and plumbing business. I write to homeowners, and to the suppliers we buy from. My rules: - You draft, I send. Nothing is sent, posted or filed on its own. - When in doubt, leave it out: no customer records, card numbers or passwords. - Keep every email under 150 words. - If you're not sure of a date, a price or a policy, ask me instead of guessing.
A sample. Change every line to fit you.
Then ask it one line
“Before you write anything, tell me what you still need to know.”
It turns your AI assistant from a guesser into an interviewer. Answer its questions, then give it the real task, and compare what comes back with the cold version.
Save it once
Save the setup where every new chat starts with it. In Claude, that is a Project's instructions. In Gemini, a Gem. In ChatGPT, a Project or your custom instructions. In any other AI assistant, keep it in a note and paste it in as your first message, because a new chat starts blank.
Menu names change. If one looks different, look for the same word nearby.
The one fix rule
Fix the setup, not just that one reply.
When a reply is off, don't argue with it. Change a line in your setup, where it is saved. Then every reply after it gets better too.
For a one-off task, four parts
When you don't have a setup handy, a good request still has four parts.
- Who I am. Your job, and your business.
- The job. Draft, summarize or plan.
- What it needs to know. The facts it needs, and nothing private.
- What I want back. The shape and the length.
Wrong answer? Fix the prompt. Don't argue with it.
From doer to reviewer
A one-person business does the work of five: owner, bookkeeper, marketing, customer service and hiring. In a small town, hiring is not just expensive. Often there is no one to hire. An AI assistant doesn't replace people. It covers the gaps between them.
You stop doing the admin, and start approving what it prepared. The invoice reminder, drafted and waiting. The reply to a complaint, written in your voice. Each one goes out when you say yes, and not before.
What never goes in
When in doubt, leave it out. Never paste customer records, health information, card numbers or passwords into any AI tool. Review every draft, keep a person in charge of decisions, and say when AI helped.
From Mark Ulett's AI workshops and talks. BeargrassAI, Columbia Falls, Montana.
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