If you’ve spent any time around AI, you’ve probably heard this advice:
“Don’t say please or thank you. It’s just wasting tokens.”
Technically, that’s true.
Your AI doesn’t care whether you’re polite.
But after thousands of hours working with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other large language models, I’ve noticed something interesting.
The more I communicate with AI the way I’d communicate with a brilliant new employee, the better the results become.
Not because the AI has feelings.
Because I naturally provide the information it actually needs to do great work.
The Mental Model That Changed Everything
Imagine hiring someone with world-class expertise.
It’s their first day.
They’re incredibly smart, but they know nothing about your company, your customers, your writing style, or what success looks like.
If you simply say, “Write me a blog about AI,” you’ll get something generic.
But spend a few minutes explaining your audience, your goals, your voice, and examples of what you like, and suddenly the output becomes dramatically better.
Every new AI conversation works exactly the same way.
Why Most AI Output Feels Generic
Most people still use AI like a search engine.
They ask a short question and expect an exceptional answer.
When the model doesn’t have enough context, it fills in the blanks with the statistical average of the internet.
Average assumptions.
Average writing.
Average results.
The fix isn’t a magical prompt.
It’s better communication.
A Few Habits That Consistently Work
- Treat every new chat like you’re onboarding a brilliant new hire.
- Give context before asking for work.
- Use Projects or knowledge bases as your company’s operations manual.
- During long conversations, occasionally summarize important decisions so the AI stays aligned.
None of this requires believing AI is conscious.
It simply recognizes that the communication habits that work with high-performing people also happen to work remarkably well with today’s AI systems.
Read the full article: Is Your AI Actually Human? Probably Not. Treat It Like One Anyway.
Final Thought
The biggest improvement you can make with AI probably isn’t buying a newer model.
It’s changing how you communicate.
Treat every new conversation like you’re onboarding an exceptionally smart teammate.
You may be surprised how much better the work becomes.
Thanks for reading Signal Over Noise,
where we separate real business signal from AI noise.
where we separate real business signal from AI noise.
See you next Tuesday,
Avi Kumar
Founder: Kuware.com
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