Work in stages and compare alternatives
Break a complex task into parts: understand the requirements, produce a proposal, review it and test it. When an answer fails, describe the specific error and give an example of the expected result. Keep useful versions of your requests.
Compare the output with the original document, the requirements and a solution made without AI. Ask for short explanations and verifiable evidence, without treating a persuasive explanation as proof. For code or calculations, run tests and validate results.
Before asking for a complete presentation, ask for an outline. Review the audience and arguments. Then develop each part and verify facts, figures and image rights.
Iterating against criteria works better than repeating the same request and hoping for a better answer.
Try it yourself
Write a request to summarise a public document. Add an output format, a rule for missing information and a verification step. Test two versions and record the differences without including personal data.