Brainstorming, outlining and summarising

Brainstorming: quantity first, judgement second

Models are good at producing many options quickly. Get better ideas by:

• Asking for range, not one answer — "Give 15 ideas across at least four different approaches."
• Adding constraints that force novelty — "None may involve social media", "each must cost under $50".
• Separating generation from selection — first generate, then in a second prompt score ideas against your criteria (or score them yourself).
• Pushing past the obvious — "The first ideas people usually think of are X and Y. Give ideas that are different from those."

Brainstormed ideas are starting points. Check feasibility, originality and fit yourself.

Outlining: structure before sentences

An outline lets you shape a document before any prose exists:

I'm writing a 1,200-word guide for new allotment holders.
Propose an outline: 5–7 sections, each with a heading and one sentence on what it covers.
Order sections in the sequence a beginner would need them.
Flag any section where you are unsure about facts that I should check.

Edit the outline yourself — reorder, cut, add what you know that the model does not — then write (or draft section by section). Writing your own first draft from an AI outline is a good way to keep your voice.

Summarising faithfully

Summaries are among the most useful and most risky AI tasks: a summary can sound accurate while dropping a key condition or adding a claim the source never made. Make summaries faithful:

1. Provide the source — never ask for a summary of a document the model has not been given.
2. State the purpose and reader — "for a manager deciding X" tells it what to keep.
3. Constrain additions — "Use only information in the text. Do not add background or opinions."
4. Ask for traceability — "After each bullet, cite the section or paragraph number it comes from."
5. Ask what is missing — "List any important points you left out because of the length limit."

Checking a summary

Compare against the source: Are numbers, names and dates exact? Are conditions and exceptions kept ("only if", "except")? Is anything stated more strongly than the source says? Is anything present that the source does not contain? For long documents, summarise section by section to stay within the context window.

Your voice and your responsibility

If you publish or submit writing produced with AI help, follow the rules that apply to you: schools, publishers and employers may require disclosure or forbid AI assistance. Edit drafts until they say what you mean, in your voice, and check every factual statement.