Interacting with an AI like UT Verse is much like having a conversation with a knowledgeable assistant. Unlike traditional search engines that rely on keywords, UT Verse understands natural human language, making it more intuitive and responsive.
When engaging with UT Verse, think of it as a research assistant, tutor, collaborator, or even a creative partner—not just a chatbot. Unlike rigid systems that require precise commands, UT Verse can interpret context, understand nuances, and even refine its responses based on your feedback.
To maximize its usefulness, approach it conversationally:
If it misunderstands your request, clarify or refine your prompt.
If the response isn’t quite what you need, ask it to improve or rephrase.
If you need more detail, request deeper analysis.
The more thoughtfully you engage with UT Verse, the better your results will be.
Your first prompt
To familiarize yourself with AI interaction, start with a simple prompt. You don’t need to worry about the answer—just observe how it responds. Try asking:
“What’s an interesting fact about the University of Tennessee?”
“Tell me a joke about artificial intelligence.”
“Describe a day in the life of a university professor.”
After receiving a response, continue the conversation. Ask follow-up questions, request clarifications, or even challenge it to generate responses in different styles (e.g., “Explain that like I’m five.”). The more you experiment, the better you’ll understand UT Verse’s capabilities.
Crafting Effective Prompts
Because UT Verse understands human language, the quality of your prompt directly affects the quality of the response. Instead of vague requests, be specific about what you need.
Consider these two prompts:
(Bad) “Write an email response.”
(Good) “Draft an email reply to a student requesting an extension on an assignment. The response should be professional, firm but empathetic, and include a policy reference from the syllabus.”
See the difference? The more context you provide, the better the output.
Effective AI Prompts
Watch our video on The Basics of Effective AI Prompts. Learn how clear, precise prompts help lead to clear, concise responses. (3min 55sec)
Key Elements of An Effective Prompt
Let’s go over some key elements of effective prompt writing, though note that you do not need to use all of these elements in every prompt. Use the elements that you feel will provide you with the best results.
Purpose – What do you want the AI to do? What is the goal of the prompt? Is it to generate ideas, encourage creative thinking, or guide research? Your purpose will shape the prompt’s directions.
Context – Include the background information or setting and audience that will help the AI understand and generate appropriate responses.
Constraints – This includes any limitations or conditions that guide the AI’s response and sets boundaries within which the AI must operate. Without these parameters an AI might provide an overly broad or irrelevant information.
Tone – If you’d like your response written in a certain tone of voice, you can specify this in your prompt. Such as, write in a professional voice, rewrite this paragraph in a persuasive voice, or sound friendly and exciting!
Format – Describe how you want the feedback from your prompt to look, or be formatted.
Once you’re comfortable using the key elements for effective prompting, you might want to try using your natural conversation skills. When you use conversational prompts, you’re essentially tapping into how people naturally communicate and access knowledge. Explore the “Four Pathways of AI Interaction” article below for more information about natural conversation prompting.
UT Verse: AI Assistant has many different prompt examples available at the Start Screen. Create a New Thread and you will be shown a list of available example prompts as shown below:
Each sample prompt will demonstrate how to prompt the AI for different asks. You can alter the prompts before submitting them, to experience what it would be like to change things such as the topic, or using different skills. When clicking on a Sample Prompt, it will automatically enable the necessary skill to complete the task.
The Randomizer
Clicking on the Randomizer button will randomize the Sample Prompts to a new available set. As the UT Verse: AI Assistant app matures, more Sample Prompts will become available.
Customizing Responses for Better Outputs
UT Verse can present information in different formats, such as:
Tables for structured data
Bullet points for clarity
Charts for visual representation
Summaries for quick insights
Example Prompt:
“Create a table containing a list of famous historical authors (over 100 years ago) with an equal distribution of females and males. Ensure to include a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. In the columns, I want: 1. The name, 2. Most known for, 3. Years alive, 4. link to wikipedia page”
AI Assistant Response:
Going Beyond: Mastering AI-Assisted Workflows
Prompting is a skill that improves with practice. The more you interact with UT Verse, the more you’ll discover how it can:
Enhance productivity
Support academic and professional tasks
Encourage creativity and problem-solving
Streamline research and writing
As AI tools become integral to education and the workplace, mastering effective prompting will give you a competitive edge in leveraging AI ethically and efficiently.
Challenge: Try experimenting with UT Verse this week. Engage with it in three different contexts—brainstorming, writing, and research. Notice how your prompts evolve and how the AI responds.
Happy prompting!
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