Why Context Changes the Answer

Two people can ask AI the same question and need very different answers.

Imagine asking AI, “What should I include in a project status update?” The answer you need may depend on whether the update is for your project team, an executive sponsor, or a customer.

An executive may need the overall status, significant risks, and decisions requiring attention, while the project team may need activities, responsibilities, dependencies, and next steps.

The underlying project information may be the same, but the context changes what is useful to the reader.

AI does not automatically know the context of your situation. You need to provide the information it needs to interpret your request.

In the first six posts in this series, the sample prompts included details about the task, audience, information to preserve, and things AI should not assume. Those details were not just extra instructions. They gave AI context for interpreting the request.

Context helps AI understand not only what you are asking, but what an appropriate answer needs to account for.

Sample Prompt

Here is a simple way to see the effect of context. Start with one set of project notes, then ask AI to use the same information for two different situations.

Source Material

The customer portal upgrade is scheduled for October 15. User acceptance testing began September 14 and is expected to finish September 25. Testing has identified three issues; two have been resolved. The remaining issue affects password-reset emails and is being investigated by the development team. Training materials are in draft and are scheduled for review September 28. No change to the October 15 target date has been approved.

First Prompt: Executive Sponsor

<prompt>
Using the project notes below, prepare a brief status update for the executive sponsor.
The purpose is to communicate overall progress, significant risks, and anything that may require attention or a decision.
Keep the update concise. Preserve the facts, dates, risks, decisions, and qualifications in the source material.
Do not invent missing information or make unsupported conclusions or recommendations.
If important information is missing, identify it rather than guessing.
Project notes:
[Paste the Source Material above here]
</prompt>

Now Change the Context

Next, keep the source material exactly the same but change the audience and purpose.

Second Prompt: Project Team

<prompt>
Using exactly the same project notes, prepare a status update for the project team.
The purpose is to help the team understand current activities, unresolved issues, upcoming work, and dependencies.
Preserve the same facts, dates, risks, decisions, and qualifications.
Do not add information that is not in the project notes or make unsupported conclusions or recommendations.
After drafting the second version, briefly identify what you changed from the executive version because the audience and purpose changed.
Project notes:
[Paste the same Source Material here]
</prompt>

When you try this with your own material, replace the sample project notes with your source information. Keep the source material the same for both prompts so you can see what changes when you change the context.

Why This Works

The source material did not change. The context did.

In the first prompt, AI was told that the update was for an executive sponsor who needed overall progress, significant risks, and anything requiring attention or a decision.

In the second, the audience changed to the project team, and the purpose shifted toward current activities, unresolved issues, upcoming work, and dependencies.

Those differences give AI information about what to emphasize, how much detail may be useful, and how to organize the response.

The underlying facts should remain the same, but the way those facts are presented can change to fit the situation.

Context can include more than audience and purpose. Background information, terminology, current circumstances, and other details can all affect how AI interprets a request.

Providing context does not guarantee that the response will be correct. It gives AI a better basis for producing a response that fits what you actually need.

Before You Use the Results

Changing the context can change what AI emphasizes, how it organizes the information, and the level of detail it provides. It should not change the underlying facts.

Compare each response with the original source material. Check that dates, decisions, risks, qualifications, and other important details remain accurate.

Pay particular attention to statements that sound reasonable but go beyond what the source actually says.

In our example, the notes say that no change to the October 15 target date has been approved.

That is not the same as saying the unresolved issue will have no effect on the schedule.

If AI makes that leap, the response should be corrected.

AI can help shape information for a particular situation, but you remain responsible for making sure the result accurately represents the source.

Next in This Series

Tell AI Who the Audience Is

We’ll look more closely at how telling AI who the audience is can change the response.

Return to the Practical and Responsible AI Series Index