AI for Beginners: A Guide to Getting Started

March 27, 2025

You may have heard of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Grok, and these large language models' seemingly-unbelievable capabilities; perhaps you wondered how they might make your life easier, but never got around to trying. These are known as “generative” AI (“GenAI”, or AI that generates something new for you according to your prompt).

GenAI is no more difficult to use than Google search.

Here are some tips for beginners on how to use GenAI as a superpowered assistant, with a focus on text and documents.

CamoText: Using AI at Home

How Should I Use AI?

Like any other software, AI is a tool to alleviate some pain point or inefficiency, creating more time for more “human” tasks. It can generate summaries, work product drafts, lesson plans, articles, code, outlines, and any other text in moments. While they have limited options and personalization compared to paid versions, the free versions of many GenAI services are incredibly powerful.

Even if you prefer to do things manually or already pay someone to help with any of the following, it takes moments to use AI as a supplemental first drafter, second opinion, or devil’s advocate.

Some common everyday uses:


1. Summarize Complex Text: Have a lengthy contract or article that’s hard to understand? Paste it into a GenAI tool, and prompt it to simplify or summarize the text. For example, “Summarize this contract in simple terms,” or “What are the key points in this draft legislation?” You might also request explanations with citations or similar sources from Perplexity to read more, or use Google’s NotebookLM to generate a “Deep Dive” podcast-like audio explanation.

2. Create First Drafts: Ask GenAI to take a first crack at a writing task you've been dreading, or produce a first draft legal agreement and explain its terms to you. These drafts serve as great starting points for your lawyer; even if they don’t use the form, you’ll start off with talking points and key provisions to discuss that might shave off some back-and-forth emails or calls.

3. Improve Writing: Paste your (or your GenAI's first draft) writing into GenAI and ask for improved clarity, a more engaging format, or simply to refine and finish what you’ve started. You might specify the intended audience, the purpose of the writing, in what format it will be published, or to match the tone of some other attached or pasted document (such as your own writing, to match the style of pieces you’ve previously written).

4. Devil's Advocate: Use GenAI to roleplay as devil’s advocate for negotiations, business plans, or any opinion you want battle-tested. In your prompt, you might ask the GenAI to pretend to negotiate against you, to critique your input as a seasoned veteran of the applicable industry, or simply a pessimist that can identify counterpoints, potential holes in your plan, or overlooked risks or attack vectors.

How to Prompt

The results from GenAI depend significantly on your prompt quality. To streamline future prompting processes, you might save "templates" of prompts that have previously produced helpful results.

A simple formula for a great prompt is: Context + Purpose + Rules + Related Information. For example:

“You are _______. Please create _________. Your response should be in the form of _____, in a ______ tone, for an audience of _______, and should include ________. Pasted below / attached are similar materials and other background information that is relevant to this task. Please review these materials and ask any necessary clarifying questions before you begin.”

Overall, try to:

  • Be Clear and Specific: Specify relevant context, format, exclusions, and other considerations as particularly as possible.
  • Specify the Tone: Tell the AI if you prefer a casual, formal, succinct, or persuasive tone; it often helps to assign it a specific “role” in crafting its response, such as a fastidious subject-matter expert, or a kind but effective leader.
  • Iterate and Refine: Start with a simple request, then refine your instructions based on the initial output with specific and actionable feedback.

Note that GenAI will create different responses even for identical inputs, so don’t be afraid to prompt it to try again!

Best Practices for Using GenAI

The better the prompt, the better the output. However, it's also imperative to:

  • Protect Your Privacy: Privacy and confidentiality are huge concerns with any GenAI tool, especially free services, as AI can retain user-submitted text, extrapolate personal details, and provide it to others. GenAI free versions tend to lack the (limited) privacy options of their subscription-based upgrades. Before submitting text, consider privacy tools like CamoText, which anonymizes sensitive text on your computer before you input it into your GenAI of choice.
  • Review and Verify: Always review the generated content carefully. GenAI can occasionally “hallucinate” and produce inaccuracies or unintended interpretations, especially considering its content- and time-limited data sets.
  • Use AI as an Assistant: Think of GenAI as an assistant or intern rather than an absolute authority. Always ensure a human is making ultimate decisions, especially for critical decisions typically undertaken by licensed professionals.

    • GenAI can simplify everyday tasks, augment your capabilities, allow you to work more efficiently, provide helpful initial or second opinions, and provide endless opportunities for learning and experimenting. Remember to invest time in creating strong prompts, refine your practices, use tools like CamoText to protect your privacy, and check the output.