Most bad AI output comes from one of four failure modes, and each has a one-line fix. UNKNOWN stops the model inventing facts to fill gaps. CONFIDENCE makes it grade how sure it actually is. CHALLENGE makes it argue against your plan instead of flattering it. DECISION LINE makes it prep a decision and then stop, so you keep the call. Four Patterns is the free one-page card with all four. Paste a line, change the answer.
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Maker
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Hi Product Hunt, Mathieu here from NerdyChefs.
I got tired of "prompt tips" that were really just longer prompts. So I went the other way and looked for the smallest possible instructions that reliably fix the most common ways AI lets you down. I landed on four, each one line, each named.
UNKNOWN: "if the source does not say it, write UNKNOWN, do not infer." Kills confident fabrication.
CONFIDENCE: grade every claim HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW, UNKNOWN. Separates quoted fact from fluent guess.
CHALLENGE: "before you agree, argue against this." Turns the yes-man into a sparring partner.
DECISION LINE: "prep this decision, do not make it, stop at DECIDE: [ ]." Keeps the call yours.
The card on this page is free and has all four, with the exact lines to paste. That is the whole thing, no wall.
If you want the harder half, reading a flawed answer and knowing which of the four it needs, plus the five ways they combine, that is a separate playbook I will drop in a reply.
Tell me the failure mode you hit most. I am curious whether four is actually the right number.
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Maker
For the people asking how to diagnose which pattern a given bad answer needs: that is exactly what the Prompt Pattern Playbook covers, the diagnosis under pressure and the five combination recipes, with a drill for each. It is $24 here: store.kesslernity.com/l/prompt-pattern-playbook. The free card alone will carry you a long way.
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honestly this is a pretty clever little cheat sheet, the unknown one alone has saved me from so much hallucinated nonsense. one thing though, would be cool if you added a fifth pattern for when the model just spirals into way too much detail, like a conciseness override line. paste it in and force it to actually be brief instead of writing five paragraphs when you wanted two sentences.
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Tried the CHALLENGE pattern on a half-baked launch plan and got a list of holes I hadn't considered. The one-page format makes it easy to actually use instead of bookmarking.
For the people asking how to diagnose which pattern a given bad answer needs: that is exactly what the Prompt Pattern Playbook covers, the diagnosis under pressure and the five combination recipes, with a drill for each. It is $24 here: store.kesslernity.com/l/prompt-pattern-playbook. The free card alone will carry you a long way.
honestly this is a pretty clever little cheat sheet, the unknown one alone has saved me from so much hallucinated nonsense. one thing though, would be cool if you added a fifth pattern for when the model just spirals into way too much detail, like a conciseness override line. paste it in and force it to actually be brief instead of writing five paragraphs when you wanted two sentences.
Tried the CHALLENGE pattern on a half-baked launch plan and got a list of holes I hadn't considered. The one-page format makes it easy to actually use instead of bookmarking.