I’ve worked at a specialized software company for a total of 32 years, and over that time, I’ve found
myself constantly looking for clear, basic definitions of words and terms — whether for work or
personal learning.
In the past year, artificial intelligence has become a major tool in my toolbox. It’s helped me better
understand topics, and just as importantly, it has helped me help others do the same.
Why Ask AI for Definitions?
You can ask any AI tool-like ChatGPT, Grok, or others-for a definition of a term. But here’s the thing:
If you or your audience doesn’t have a strong technical background in that subject, the definition you
get might be way too complex. And when that happens, it’s not helpful at all.
And, using different online dictionaries, even through the ultimate dictionary site, Onelook.com, I’ve found it time consuming to try and find a good basic definition of a word I don’t understand.
And, when I study a subject in my personal life, I create a glossary of basic definitions I found for words I ran into as part of this study. The reason do this is to give me another resource to help me re-study or brush up on material later. Such glossaries help save me time because I already did the work to locate the definition I needed for a specific context. I utilized such a glossary when I was studying and then re-studying materials for my health and life insurance license exam some years ago. It really helped make sure I passed this exam the first time.
Note: This isn’t a substitute for fully clearing up and understanding a word, of course.
How I Ask for Better Definitions
So, I’ve developed a habit: I form my requests to match the technical level of either myself or the
person I’m helping.
Here are a few examples:
- “Please give me a good, basic, and non-technical definition of [insert technical word here] related to woodworking.”
- “Give me a good basic definition of [insert technical word here] that a 6th grader would understand.”
- “Explain [insert technical word here] in a way a 9th grader could understand-and give me five simple examples to show how it’s used.”
Doing this makes the AI’s answers far more useful and digestible — for me and for anyone I’m helping.
It’s All About Context
It really comes down to this:
Do a quick assessment of yourself or the person you’re trying to help and adjust your request accordingly.
Bonus Tip: Ask AI *How* to Ask
In one of my earlier blog posts, “Artificial Intelligence – Help me, help you…”, I talked about asking artificial intelligence programs to help it help you, like asking it “How could you help me?”
Well, that applies here too.
You can say something like:
“What’s a good way to ask for a basic definition of a technical word I currently don’t understand?”
Let the artificial intelligence program help you create better questions so you get better and more precise answers. This will make using artificial intelligence programs more efficient in this area and overall as well.
Final Thought
This approach has really helped me help myself and others too!
And, of course, I hope this helps you too!
