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Find the over-budget categories in a spending export
Practice: Keeping the AI to your sources. About 5 minutes.
About this exercise
Grace in finance asked which office budget categories went over budget in October. She wants exactly 3 numbered lines for her email, one per over-budget category, each giving the category and how many dollars it went over, under 45 words in total, plain text, nothing else. Use only the export, and apply Grace's two notes at the bottom: they change the numbers.
Common mistakes when you ask AI for this
- Asking an open question. The AI answers with a table or a long breakdown of every category, not lines Grace can paste. Try: Be exact: "Numbered lines, only over-budget categories, each with the dollars over."
- Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting. Ask for a total word limit and it often lands over it. Try: Cap each part instead: "Each line under 8 words, nothing else."
- Ignoring the notes. The AI reads the table at face value, so the outdated coffee budget and the refunded courier charge give wrong answers. Try: Add: "Apply the notes at the bottom first: they override the table."
- Forgetting it goes in an email. AI loves markdown tables and bold, which turn into clutter in a plain email. Try: Add: "Plain text, no bold, headings or tables."
What a strong prompt includes
- Says how many lines
- Applies the notes
- Asks for dollar amounts
- Sets a word limit
- Asks for plain text
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