Look for a clear before and after
A strong first task has a visible starting point and a clear next version. A brief, list of notes, research summary, or draft outline is easier to assess than a vague request to improve your work.
If you cannot explain what good looks like, spend a few minutes clarifying the task before opening a tool.
Keep the review close to the work
Choose work you can review with your own knowledge or a reliable source. This lets you notice mistakes quickly and learn which instructions improve the result.
Avoid giving a first experiment decision-making power over people, money, safety, or confidential information. Those areas need more explicit processes and review points.
- The outcome can be described in one sentence.
- The inputs are safe to use and easy to inspect.
- You can recognise a useful result.
- A person remains responsible for the final decision.
Make the next step explicit
A task does not end when the tool produces text. Decide what happens next: edit it, compare it with a source, ask a colleague, or use it as a draft for the next step.
That final choice keeps AI in a supporting role and gives you a process worth repeating.