L1-M2 / lesson 1 of 2

Give AI a bounded task

A service team wants a draft response to a fictional refund complaint.

10–15 min · 0/4 steps complete

Start here / A workplace decision

From vague request to usable brief

A service team wants a draft response to a fictional refund complaint.

The request is simply: 'Reply to this complaint.'

Before you read / Think it through

In “From vague request to usable brief”, what would you check or do first?

Pause and form your answer, then compare the reasoning. This reflection is not scored.

Compare the reasoning

Specify the task, intended reader and draft-only boundary.

The ideas below give you a method for this decision. Then work through the rest of this case and try the decisions yourself.

Part 1 of 4 Learn the ideas

Choose a topic0 of 5 read

Task suitability

Choose bounded tasks with inspectable results.

Drafting and restructuring often suit human review.

In the workplace

Compare summarising a provided policy with deciding whether a person gets credit. Review effort is part of suitability.

Remember this

High-impact decisions need a separate approved process.

The workplace case

YOUR CASE / USING AI TOOLS WELL

A sales team wants an assistant to draft a response to a customer complaint. The complaint quotes an old refund policy, includes a customer number and asks for a bank transfer. The assistant can read documents and send email.

Quick reference / five key ideas

Task suitability: High-impact decisions need a separate approved process.
A useful task brief: Name the person who will review the output.
Source material: Require uncertainty when the source is silent.
Input minimisation: Use only tools approved for the remaining data.
Output structure: Set reasonable length and audience constraints.