How can we give AI context for more personalised answers?

To get more personalised answers from AI, we need to give it context about who we are, how we work and what we want. We can keep general context for different conversations and add project-specific information when we need it. One simple way to organise all of this is to use Markdown files.

What context should we give AI?

We can organise context at two levels. General context covers who we are, how we work and how we prefer to receive answers. Project context explains the goal, the rules and constraints, and the kind of answer we are looking for. This gives AI the context that is relevant to each conversation.

How can we organise context for AI?

One simple way is to save that information in Markdown files, with the `.md` extension. They are text files with headings and lists, easy to read and update. This structure helps separate and present information clearly to AI. And AI “loves” this organisation.

How can we create a Markdown file to give AI context?

We don’t need to know how to write in Markdown: we can ask AI itself to ask questions and organise the answers in a file. We just need to explain what we want to create and ask to review the result before creating the final file. For example:

> “I want to create a Markdown file about my personal profile to use as context with AI tools. Ask me questions, one at a time, about my background, experience, interests, goals, way of working, communication preferences and any other aspects you think are important. Don’t invent answers or turn everything into stock phrases. Once you have my answers, prepare my profile in Markdown and show it to me here so I can review it and request changes before you create the final file.”

How can we use context for each project?

Once we have reviewed the file, we save it on our computer. When we want to use that context, we attach it to the conversation with AI. If the tool supports instructions or a custom profile, we can also put a version of the text there. Since these fields tend to have character limits, we can ask AI to summarise the file and check that the text fits within the stated limit.

To explore other ways to apply AI at work, we can take a look at GOPPO’s training. If you need help, give us a shout through the contact form.