Role prompting assigns an AI a profession, personality, expertise, character, tone, or audience before asking for an answer. This often improves the response’s apparent expertise and makes its wording fit the requested role. section 1.5.1
Build a role prompt by adding the details that shape the response:
- Name an expertise: “You are an expert at cooking Northern Italian dishes, specifically the dishes of Bologna.” section 1.5.1
- Specify a profession or character, such as “act as a master cake decorator,” “you are a skilled mechanic,” or “act as Mickey Mouse.” section 1.5.1
- Add a tone or audience when needed, such as conversational, formal, legalistic, children, art students, or soldiers. section 1.5.1
- State your practical role when analyzing information so the AI returns useful actions instead of only a summary. section 1.5.9
From summary to useful advice
Instead of asking for a summary of a New York City travel brochure, ask: “What information in this article will be useful to me when I take my children to learn about the art you can see in this city?” The response can prioritize major museums and suggest options suited to children. section 1.5.9
Role-based writing revision
Ask an AI to act as Hemingway and advise on prose, or ask Copilot to revise a paragraph to make it more informal and conversational. Check the result: a style setting may produce a paraphrase rather than a genuine change of tone. section 4.2.3
