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Target Audience: Staff at Strathclyde who have little experience in AI use.

Since the launch of tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot, Generative AI (Gen AI) has quickly become part of everyday life in universities. However, for many staff it can still feel unfamiliar or intimidating, and it’s not always obvious how to ask for what you need in a way that gets useful results.

This beginner-friendly online session introduces the basics of prompting for staff with very little experience of Gen AI. Using Microsoft Copilot for live demonstration, tutors will walk through simple prompt structures and show how small tweaks in wording can improve the clarity, tone and usefulness of AI-generated responses.

The session will also signpost key university guidance on safe and appropriate use of Gen AI in learning, teaching and professional practice.

By the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Explain what prompting is.
• Explain why vague prompts tend to produce poor results and describe the key features of an effective prompt.
• Apply a prompt structure (Role, Task, Context, Output) to a real work task.
• Apply basic iteration techniques (e.g. nudges about tone, length or audience) to improve the usefulness of AI-generated output.
• Recognise safe-use boundaries, including what not to paste into public GenAI tools.

Prerequisites