ChatGPT has made AI extremely popular, and as a result, many AI tools are now being used by people worldwide. All of those tools are based on how you talk to them, that is called prompting. It is basically the art of talking to AI in a way that gets you the best results.
Whether you’re using ChatGPT prompting to write emails or exploring generative AI tools for your work, prompt engineering is the key to unlocking AI’s true power.
That’s where Google’s Generative AI course comes in. And if you don’t have 9 hours to spare, we’ve broken down the essentials right here in a matter of minutes.
Let’s get into it.
Google’s Generative AI Course: What’s the Core Message?
Google has recently launched a free course on prompt engineering as a part of its initiative to increase AI literacy. The course includes many exercises and will help anybody experimenting with tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or any other large language model (LLM).
The knowledge you walk away with is not so much about being technical or coding. It’s about learning how to communicate with AI clearly and strategically.
Google emphasises that your outcomes are only as good as your prompts. Once you learn a few effective methods, you’ll see improved results, faster output, and more relevant responses, whether you’re working on content creation, coding, data analysis, or building AI-powered apps.
Key Principles to Master Prompt Engineering Fast:
1. Be Clear, Specific, and Concise
AI works better with clarity. When your prompt is vague, AI starts guessing. A well-written prompt tells AI 3 things:
- What to do (Task)
- What matters (Context)
- How to respond (References, Constraints)
Instead of saying: ‘Write something about climate change’, it’s way better to say ‘Write a 100-word summary of how climate change affects polar bears, suitable for a 10-year-old.’
Be specific about what you want and how you want it to be. You’ll save time and get better results. (For more examples, check out our guide on Crafting Clear and Effective Prompts.)
2. Provide Context and Examples (Few-Shot Prompting)
Large Language models in AI learn from patterns. Few-shot prompting is a method where you provide a number of examples to guide the model’s response to a similar task.
You can use this in translations. For example, you could give the model a few English-to-French translations and then ask it to translate a new English sentence.
3. Define Your Desired Output Format
If you want a list, table or structured email, mention it specifically in the prompt. Without clear instructions, AI might give you a paragraph when you wanted bullet points.
For example, ‘List 5 ideas for YouTube video titles in bullet points.’ or ‘“Summarize this article in a table with columns for ‘Main Idea’, ‘Details’, and ‘Takeaways’.’ AI can follow a format when instructed. (Discover more tips on Structuring Your AI Outputs.)
4. Assign a Persona or Role to the AI
This can be a powerful prompt. When you give AI a specific role like teacher, marketer, or developer, it knows how to act. It changes its tone, vocabulary, and even the structure of its response.
Eg: ‘You are a health coach. Help me write a professional LinkedIn bio’ or ‘Act as a UX designer and comment on this app interface.’ It helps the AI tailor the answer as if it were coming from a subject-matter expert.
5. Break Down Complex Tasks into Steps
Break down big and lengthy tasks. This helps AI tackle each task better and give a concise answer. Instead of saying: “Plan a product launch for my app,” Say: “Step 1: Identify the target audience. Step 2: Plan a pre-launch teaser campaign. Step 3: Suggest a launch event strategy.” Giving AI a structure helps it respond in a more useful and actionable way.
6. Use Delimiters to Structure Your Prompts
Delimiters in AI prompts are special characters or sequences that provide structure to inputs for AI models, making it easier for the AI model to follow instructions and context. Common delimiters:
- Triple quotes: “””
- Brackets: [ ], < >
- Tags: <tag>
Beyond the Basics: Advanced Prompting Insights
Once you’ve grasped the fundamentals, you can explore more advanced techniques included in the Google AI course, like:
- Chain of Thought Prompting: Ask the AI to “think step-by-step.” It improves reasoning, especially for logic-based or math-heavy tasks. (Dive deeper into Advanced Prompting Techniques.)
- Zero-Shot vs Few-Shot: Zero-shot is when you give no examples. Few-shot gives a couple. Try both and see what works best for your use case.
- Prompt Templates: Save your best prompts. If you find a prompt that consistently works, reuse it as a template for similar tasks. (Access our collection of AI Prompt Templates for Various Tasks.)
Your Path to AI Mastery: Start Prompting Smarter Today
Prompt Engineering is just smart communication. The way you speak to AI affects everything like the quality of answers, the time you save, and your ability to get real work done. From marketing to education, coding to content creation, mastering prompts is becoming a must-have skill in the age of generative AI. You don’t need to spend 9 hours on a course. With these simple principles from Google’s AI training, you’re already ahead of the game. The real takeaway is that AI doesn’t replace thinking, it enhances it. The better your prompts, the better your results. And with every prompt you write, you’re getting better too.