Let AI Interview You. Asking Beats Telling.

Stop writing instructions for AI. For anything that matters, I'd get AI to interview you instead.

You can write three careful lines about the plan, the trip or the business and still get an answer meant for someone slightly different from you. The one fact that mattered was the one you didn't think to type.

That isn't a failing on your part, because nobody can list what they've left out.

An AI interviewing you can find that missing fact. AI has seen ten thousand versions of your situation and knows where they split apart, so it knows which facts hold the answer up. A question like "is the deadline fixed?" comes up because that's the one that changes the answer.

Out loud, you'll also say more than you'd ever type. People answer eight questions in the time they'd spend polishing two sentences, and the eight answers hold the awkward detail the two sentences would have left out.

Most of all, you stay in the driving seat. With written instructions, you hand over a problem and wait. An interview is you doing the thinking, out loud, with something that takes notes and asks the next question. That's the whole difference between using AI and being used by it.

An interview costs time, ten minutes rather than two. For anything that matters, I'd spend them.

Write one line with four parts

Say what the interview is for and tell AI to ask one question at a time. Then name what to ask about, and tell AI not to do the thing yet.

I want to [the goal]. Interview me, one question at a time, until you understand [the three or four things that matter]. Push back if my answers contradict each other. Don't [write / suggest / plan] anything yet.

Every part earns its place. "One at a time" stops AI dumping ten questions you'll skim, and naming the topics stops AI asking about your star sign.

"Push back" is where the value is, because now AI is allowed to say "you said cheap and you said central, so which wins?" Finally, "don't do it yet" stops AI producing the answer after question two, which it otherwise will.

Answer like a person

Use voice mode if you've got it, so you can talk instead of type. Then you ramble, and rambling is where the detail is.

Say the awkward bits, such as "I want to move but my mum's not well" or "The real reason I'm applying is the money". The interview only works if the answers are true. The AI won't judge you, and it will use what you say.

Answer the question AI asked, then add the one it should have asked. For example, "Yes, the deadline's fixed, and by the way, my manager doesn't know I'm looking." AI asks about what's typical, so offer up what's unusual about you, because the best material in an interview usually comes without being asked for.

When a question makes you stop and think, that's the question, so sit with it before you type.

Make AI read back what it heard

Add this to the end of the prompt. "When you've got enough, write back what you've understood in one paragraph and ask what I'd change." That paragraph is the set of instructions you'd never have written, and now you only have to correct it.

Every answer in that paragraph came out of your own mouth, which is why the result will sound like you.

Steer AI when it wanders

If the questions feel like a form (what's your budget, timeline and goal?), tell it which topics to ask about. Say "ask me about the people involved and what's worrying me." AI asks about whatever you name, so name the things that matter.

If you can't answer because you don't know what you want, ask AI for three options to react to. Not knowing what you want may be why you're here in the first place. Try three Tuesdays in three towns, or three versions of the email. Reacting is easier than inventing, and your wince tells you something.

If AI writes the answer after two questions, say "you haven't finished asking" and carry on. If AI keeps doing that, start a fresh chat with "don't produce anything until I say the word 'go'", because some tools need the hard stop.

If the questions seem to lead somewhere, AI may be steering you towards an answer it already had in mind. Point that out, and AI will stop.

Use an interview where a list isn't enough

The interview does the heavy lifting on several other pages. Among them are the family tree, the interview you're preparing for, the list in your head and your CV. Elsewhere on the site, a page may start with a list or a test that isn't drawing enough out of you.

When that happens, come back to this one line and let AI ask.