Prompting·basic
Specificity
Saying exactly what you mean — the single biggest predictor of a useful response.
Specificity is the practice of saying exactly what you mean instead of gesturing at it.
Vague: "Fix this code."
Specific: "Fix the TypeError on line 12 — it says x is undefined, but I declared it on line 4."
Vague: "Write me a story." Specific: "Write a 300-word story about a librarian who discovers one of the books is writing itself. End on an unresolved note."
AI models don't read minds. They pattern-match against what you typed. The more precise the input, the more precise the output.