Fine-tuning your AI prompts

Copilot helps with various tasks, from cooking and finding recipes to planning trips and budgeting. To make the most of it, you need to know how to write the best AI prompts. Learn ways to optimize your Copilot prompts and find examples of how you can make a prompt stronger to get the most out of AI in your everyday.

Fine-tuning your Copilot prompts helps you receive tailored responses and results. If you get results that are underwhelming or not relevant to what you’re looking for, your prompt might need a tune-up. Here are a few ways to strengthen your prompts along with examples of how to make weak prompts much more effective:

Details are important when using Copilot, especially when you're using it as an AI image generator, which requires lots of details. You can use AI for gardening tips, for instance, but you’ll need to provide details in your prompt to get the most relevant tips for you. If you prompt Copilot with “Tell me about plants,” you’ll receive a generic, high-level response about plants in general. The prompt is too vague and broad.

Compare that prompt to this detailed request: “I’m planning to start a small vegetable garden on my 5-foot-by-5-foot balcony. Can you recommend easy-to-grow vegetables that are suitable for pots? I have limited sunlight in that area.” The second prompt provides specific context and mentions what your intentions are, which helps Copilot offer precise results.

Lists are a great AI prompting tool. Instead of telling Copilot, “I need recipes,” you can fine-tune this prompt to include a list of ingredients you want to use or meals you’ve loved in the past. Providing a list of examples, requirements, or limitations can help your conversation with Copilot lead to what you’re really after.

Here are AI prompt examples to get recipes using lists:

• I have chicken breasts, broccoli, and bell peppers in my fridge, and I want to prepare a healthy dinner for my family. Can you suggest a flavorful recipe that includes these ingredients?
• My favorite dishes are eggplant parmigiana, rigatoni, and mostaccioli. What are five dishes I could try that you think I might love?
  
• I’m having a dinner party, and guests have the following dietary restrictions: gluten free, lactose intolerant, and vegetarian. What can I make that they can all enjoy?

Sometimes, you might not know what information to provide Copilot until you see its initial results. That’s okay. You can converse with Copilot like you’re speaking to a friend or family member. For example, you might start by asking Copilot for general fitness guidance by saying, “Give me exercise tips.” When you read the results, you might realize that the tips you’re receiving don’t speak to your specific goals, but don’t stop there. Keep the conversation going!

Here are follow-up Copilot prompts to narrow in on what you want:

• Those tips are too broad. What do you need to know to help me get the right tips for me?
• I liked tips 3, 4, and 5. Can you say more about those, and please connect them to my goal of being more heart healthy.
  
• Which of these tips will help me with strength and flexibility?
  
• Would you recommend anything specific for a teenager? I’m 15.

Copilot uses the information you previously provided and finds recommendations based on the new information given. That’s the beauty of conversational AI search: you can have a back-and-forth conversation until you arrive at the right result for you.

Fine-tuning your Copilot prompts is vital in making the most out of AI in your everyday life. Feeding AI lists, additional details, and follow-up questions can help you get the results you want. To create the best AI images, learn to use Copilot as an AI image generator with AI image prompts. Head on over to Copilot to practice Fine-Tuning Your AI Prompts so you can get great results faster.