So you're using an AI (Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, Deekseek, whatever.) Most people use it out of the box. You can get better results by adding a pair of short text files that tells your AI:
- Who you are, your skills, your interests, and so on.
- The topic and what the AI should do for you.
- How it should talk with you.
- The audience.
- Not use em-dashes.
- Avoid flattery.
- Should the AI use only your files, can it use additional data, or both?
- Ask the AI for a critical analysis of your query: what’s wrong with the query, what’s missing in your query, and suggest how to ask better questions.
Two Basic Files
Two files work together as team: the doctrine.xml and instruction.xml file.
- The doctrine.xml file sets the persona of your AI. Your AI can be a professor of marketing, a university student in history, owner of a shop, a staffer in sales. The file also sets rules for the AI, such as don't use slang.
- The instruction.xml file sets specific instructions for the persona and your current query: where to get data, how to show results, and more. For the marketing persona, it writes advertising text. For the student, it writes for her class.
Let’s say you work in marketing. The doctrine sets your identity (you're the manager of digital marketing), your topic (marketing ski boots for competitive racing), your audience (ski competitors), your writing style (direct, friendly, helpful), and so on. The instruction file tells the AI to write text that will motivate the reader to visit the website to learn more.
You create pairs of doctrine/instruction for the way you use AI. For example, I use AI for writing, research, and marketing, so I have three pairs of doctrine/instruction files, one for each. I use the writing pair so the AI writes in my style. The research pair tells the AI how to research for me. Finally, the marketing pair creates marketing campaigns for me. Look at what you do in AI and see if you can identify general ways that you use AI and then create doctrine/instructions for each.
Note: Keep these as two separate files (the doctrine.xml and instruction.xml). Some people merge the two into one file. That will confuse the AI.
Create Your Doctrine/Instruction Files
- Get my doctrine/instruction files at doctrine.xml and instruction.xml. Download these to your computer.
- Open the files in your text editor (Notepad in Windows or TextEdit in macOS). (If you don't know how, ask your AI "How can I edit this file?")
- Ask your AI to rewrite these for you. Start by clearly teling the AI what you want and then ask it to rewrite doctrine/instruction files for you.
- I took my doctrine/instruction files, pasted them into my AI, and asked it to make a version that I can share. Here's the prompt: Hi, AI, here are the doctrine and instruction files for myself, andreas.com, and my work. (Paste both files in the AI). Rewrite these so they support a marketing project for Skiboots.com, a fictional company. The owner is Jenny Downhill, two time Olympic champion. The product is Bluetooth-enabled ski boots for competitive downhill skiing. The audience is ski competitors. The market is the US. If you need more details, ask me.
- Copy the result, paste into your AI, and ask, "Any contradictions, problems, or errors?". It will show you what to fix.
- Finally, paste both the doctrine and instruction into the AI and again, ask, "Any contradictions, problems, or errors?". It will show you what to fix.
- When all is good, save the files with new names (I add the month and day (instruction-month-day.xml), such as instruction-04-22.xml). (Keep old versions so you can go back.)
- Open your AI, start a new chat, and paste the doctrine and instruction files. The AI will use your instructions.
- If you don't like it, delete the chat and start another chat. The new chat will default to basic AI.
Questions, Tips, Notes
Why XML Format?
Because XML clearly marks the role of each section as specific instructions for an AI. If you write in markdown or plain text, the AI may treat it as a suggestion, not an instruction.
Upload or Paste the Files?
There are two ways to add files to an AI: A) Open the file in your text editor, copy the text, and paste it into the AI chat box. B) Copy/paste, drag and drop the file or select the file. If you upload files, the AI may process the file through a Python script to extract the text. In some cases, this may remove some of the text. It's better to paste the text of files into your chat box.
Which AI Can Use This?
You can use the same instructions in any LLM AI: Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT, and so on. I downloaded the Qwen AI to my phone, added my doctrine/instruction, and it gave me better results.
Tips for AI
Use the highest version of your AI. It'll give better answers. I use Gemini Pro and set it to Thinking Level = Extended. It takes a few seconds longer, but results are better. Try a complicated query in all modes and compare the answers.
Claude or Gemini?
Claude is very good at writing code and working on projects. Google Gemini works well with the Google ecosystem of tools: Gmail, Sheets, Slides, GDrive, and so on, plus Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Google Gemini also includes Google Notebook. No other AI company has anything like this. You can upload dozens (or hundreds) of documents and files to Notebook and use them in your AI. I could write a short book just on how to use Notebook.
Should I Upgrade My AI?
I recommend you pay for AI. It'll work much better. Gemini Pro is $20 per month. If you have a .edu email address (such as jenny@college.edu), Gemini Pro is free for a year.
More Tips for AI
Create an ongoing chat that you can use. For example, in Gemini, start the chat and add the files. Open the sidebar navigation, find the chat, and click the three dots. Rename the chat to something that makes sense. Click Pin to pin the chat to the top of your list. You can also rename, unpin, and delete chats. This means you can create a chat today, add your files, and then use the same chat whenever you need. You can also write instructions for NotebookLM.
Your Comments, Ideas, Questions
Yes, please! Ask questions. Make suggestions for improvement. Ask for clarification. Tell me clever ideas how you use this. Send me an email. Go to my Contact page