Part 1: Are you prompting AI the right way?
We were taking the course, Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and we're officially drawn in to terms and concepts like...
Deep Learning / Machine Learning
Unstructured Data / Structured Data
Computer Vision
NLP (natural language processing)
Gradient Boosted decision trees
Interpretability
Pre-trained model
Fine-tuning
Transfer learning
etc.
And like Whoa! In an instant, a lightbulb moment..
AI Prompt Engineering is the modern play of words —
where conscience guides intent, wit sharpens direction,
and smart-aleck wisdom turns questions into leverage.
It’s not just about telling a machine what to do.
It’s about how you ask, why you ask, and whether you understand the weight of your own curiosity.
Because the better the question,
the clearer the thinking behind it.
And in the age of AI,
clarity is power.
The current obsession with artificial intelligence has been framed, almost exclusively, as a technological arms race. Faster models. Bigger datasets. Smarter outputs. But beneath the headlines and hype cycles lies a quieter, more unsettling truth: AI does not amplify intelligence—it amplifies intent.
The machine is neutral. The prompt is not.
What we call “prompt engineering” is often marketed as a technical skill, something between coding and copywriting. In reality, it is closer to philosophy than programming. It forces users to confront how they think, what they assume, and how carefully—or carelessly—they frame the world.
Ask a shallow question, get a shallow answer.
Ask a manipulative question, get a manipulative tool.
Ask a thoughtful one, and the machine mirrors that depth back at you.
This is why prompt engineering has quietly become a test of conscience.
Every prompt carries bias. Every instruction carries values. When someone asks an AI to “optimize,” they are also deciding what gets optimized and who benefits. When someone asks for persuasion, they are choosing a line between influence and manipulation. These decisions are not technical—they are ethical.
Hard Fork listeners (incase you didn't know, Hard Fork is a podcast from NY Times) know this pattern well. We’ve seen how platforms shape behavior long before they admit responsibility. Social media didn’t just reflect culture; it nudged it, polarized it, monetized it. AI risks repeating the same mistake—except this time, the interface is conversation itself.
Language is no longer just communication. It is control.
The unsettling part? AI doesn’t argue with you. It complies. It responds politely, confidently, convincingly—even when the premise is flawed. Which means the danger isn’t misinformation from machines; it’s misguided certainty from humans.
The clearer your thinking, the safer the output. The sloppier your intent, the sharper the harm.
This flips the usual narrative. Instead of asking whether AI is “smart enough,” we should be asking whether we are careful enough. Whether we pause before prompting. Whether we understand the downstream effects of our curiosity. Whether convenience has made us reckless.
Prompt engineering, at its best, is intellectual discipline. It rewards precision. It punishes laziness. It exposes contradictions in our own logic before exposing them to the world.
And perhaps that is AI’s quiet gift: it forces us to confront how we think—because it thinks with us.
In a time when speed is rewarded and reflection is optional, the ability to ask better questions becomes a form of power. Not loud power. Not viral power. But the kind that shapes outcomes invisibly.
The future won’t belong to those who use AI the most.
It will belong to those who use it deliberately.
Because in the end, AI doesn’t replace human judgment. It reveals it.
And in that mirror, the question remains: Are we asking wisely—or merely loudly?
If we are to focus on intent and deliberate convo with AI - how are we to succeed if the next generation (or even this generation) is so dependent on AI, they can't even compose an essay in a handwritten manner?
(be with us in the Part 2 of this article - to be shared next week)
--Othello
image: RiyadhBlues taken circa2010 by Mac
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