Goal and context
You give the agent what it cannot guess: what the result is for and what situation it fits into.
ObjectiveBy the end of this lesson, you will be able to write the goal and context of a request so that the agent chooses the right level, the right examples and the right sources.
An agent does not read your mind. It starts from what you write, what it finds in your files and what its memory has retained from your exchanges. Specifying means giving it what it cannot guess. Four elements are almost always enough: the goal, the context, the constraints and the format. This lesson covers the first two.
The goal: what the result will be used for
Say what you will do with the result, not just what you want. “A summary of this report” is a request. “A summary so the committee can decide whether to renew this supplier” is a goal. The second steers the whole summary: the agent will highlight costs, risks and alternatives rather than the history.
The context: what the agent does not know
- Who will read it: senior management, apprentices, clients, care staff.
- Where you stand: first version, revision, reply to comments.
- What already exists: a project document, a style guide, a previous note.
- What has already been decided and is not open for discussion.
Make a presentation on cybersecurity.
On Thursday I am giving a 20-minute session on phishing to 25 administrative staff who are not technical. Base it on our internal procedure in the Security folder in Drive. Goal: they should be able to recognise and report a suspicious email. Prepare a 10-slide Deck with a final quiz.
The audience, the goal and the internal source let the agent choose the right level and the right examples.
Context can also come from Learnya itself. A project brings together the conversations, documents, members and events of one piece of work, and each project can have its own assistant. Working in the right project gives the agent the relevant documents from the start. Memory retains your lasting preferences, such as your job or the tone you like.
Can there be too much context?
Rarely. Too much context is less harmful than none. Just avoid mixing several tasks in one request and attaching unrelated documents, which scatter the agent’s attention.