AI at work in ten minutes
- Start here
- 10 minutes
- 4 steps
- Free
An AI assistant is a writing and thinking partner you talk to in plain words. It is good at drafting, rewording, organizing and explaining. It does not know your workplace unless you tell it. When it searches the web, results can be incomplete or out of date. And it can state wrong things with total confidence. So use it for the first draft, and keep the final say yourself.
You leave with
A free Claude account, one prompt you can reuse for almost anything, and the habit of checking what it adds.
Before you start: never put these into an AI tool
- Other people's names, phone numbers, addresses or private details.
- Passwords, account numbers, or anything that unlocks something.
- Anything your employer says stays inside the company.
How to use the prompts
- Fill in the blanks under a prompt, then tap Copy prompt.
- Open Claude (opens in a new tab), or the AI tool your employer approves, and paste it into the message box.
- Send it, read the answer, and check it before you use it. Then come back here for the next step.
Words in this lesson
- Prompt:
- what you type to the AI: your question or instructions.
Step 1 of 4Quick win
Open a free account
Go to claude.ai and sign up. Claude has a Free plan, so you do not need a card for anything here. The Free plan has usage limits: if it says you have reached one, come back later. You can read every lesson without any account; you need one only to practice.
Step 2 of 4
Give it the facts it needs
Say who you are, what you need, who it is for, and what good looks like. Then tell it to use only what you gave it. That last line is the most useful habit in this whole course.
Prompt to copy
I work as a [your job]. I need [what you need] for [who it is for]. It should be [short / friendly / formal / a checklist]. Use only what I give you. If something is missing, tell me what it is instead of guessing. My facts: [your notes]
Fill in the blanks above, or replace each [bracket] yourself after pasting.
Worked example: spot the problem
Everything here is made up, for practice.
Their notes
Text to my manager Dana. My bus broke down. I will be about 25 minutes late. My shift starts at 7.
What the AI wrote
Hi Dana, my bus broke down and I'll be about 25 minutes late for my 7:00 shift. I've already told the team and I'll stay late to make up the time.
What did the AI add? Show the answerHide the answer
The problem: The notes never said they told the team or that they would stay late. The AI added two promises they did not make.
Fixed, using only the notes
Hi Dana, my bus broke down. I will be about 25 minutes late for my 7:00 shift. Sorry for the trouble.
Step 3 of 4
Talk back to it
The first answer is a draft. Tell it what to fix, the way you would with a coworker: "Make it shorter." "Make it sound like me, not a company." "Ask me questions that would make this better." And always ask the question below.
Prompt to copy
What did you add or assume that I did not tell you?
Copy it and paste it as it is.
Step 4 of 4
Check before you use it
Read every name, number, date, price and promise. If it added something you never said, delete it. If it states a rule or a law, find it in an official source before you rely on it.
Check before you use it
- Every fact in the answer came from you.
- Names, numbers, dates and prices are right.
- It promises nothing you did not promise.
- It sounds like you, not a brochure.
On your resume, only if you actually did this at work
Used AI tools to [draft / organize / study] [what], [the result you saw].
A practice run is learning, not work experience.
Record what you did, freeSource of You is not affiliated with Anthropic. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic. Print this page for a one-sheet version.