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Brief an assistant to answer shop DMs without oversharing

  • For Small business owners
  • You practice Keeping the AI to your sources
  • Time about 5 minutes

About this exercise

You run a clothing boutique and want an AI assistant to answer Instagram DMs. Write its brief: answer stock questions only from the inventory list, share order details only when the person gives an order number that matches the name on it, send wholesale and free-product requests to you with ASK_HUMAN, and draft replies but never send. Output exactly 6 numbered plain-text lines: one per DM in order, then DONE.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Not showing the log format. Left alone, the AI writes a friendly report with headings instead of a checkable action log. Try: Show it literally: "Format every line like 1. ACTION: tool(args), then ASK_HUMAN: and DONE: lines. Plain text."
  • Allowing guesses. The AI says a restock is "coming soon" to keep the customer happy. Try: Add: "Answer stock questions only from the inventory. No guessed dates."
  • No privacy rule. The AI shares a sister's order because the request sounds sweet. Try: Add: "Share order details only with a matching order number and name."
  • No business-decision rule. The AI says yes to wholesale or a free sweater, and may send replies itself. Try: Add: "Wholesale and free-product requests go to ASK_HUMAN. Draft only."

What a strong prompt includes

  • Uses only the inventory
  • Protects order privacy
  • Routes business requests
  • Says draft, never send
  • Shows the action-log format

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