“Just get AI to write the prompts for you, idiot!"

I see comments like this on my videos all the time.

Often they aren’t as polite!

And you know what? They've got a point. Why have we spent all this time learning about prompt structure, testing, and team implementation when we could just ask AI to write our prompts?

Are we dummies?

It's a fair question. And an even better one: why didn't I mention this approach right at the start?

Here's the thing - using AI to help write prompts is absolutely valid.

But (and it's a big but) you still need to know what you want the AI to create. The core skill of prompt engineering isn't writing fancy prompts - it's communication!

And if you're asking AI to write a prompt for you, guess what? You still need to communicate what you want!

We're just moving up a level.

Instead of being the worker writing the prompt, we're becoming the project manager giving the requirements. And any good project manager knows that clear requirements are the difference between success and a very expensive mess.

Let’s get started:

The Meta-Prompt Approach

AI is brilliant at pattern recognition and structural analysis. Which makes it great for writing out initial prompts.

It can often spot weaknesses in prompts that we miss because we're too close to the problem.

But we still need to communicate what it is we want the initial prompt to actually do. We still need to communicate what we want. Thankfully with the right prompt we can get AI to extract this info from us!

The Prompt Writer Prompt:

You are an expert prompt engineer. Your task is to create a prompt based on my requirements.

Please ask me questions one at a time about:
1. The specific task the prompt should accomplish
2. The desired output format and style
3. Any constraints or requirements
4. Examples of good and bad outputs

After gathering this information, create a structured prompt following RISEN™:
Role - who/what the AI should be
Instructions - what it needs to do
Steps - how it should do it
End Goal - what success looks like
Narrowing - constraints and limitations

Wait for my response to each question before proceeding.

See what we did there? We're using AI to help write prompts, but we're controlling the process and applying the RISEN™ framework. We're the architects, providing the specifications and requirements. But the AI actually puts everything together for us.

Great starting point but we can do more!

The Improvement Loop

But writing prompts is just the start. Here's where it gets really powerful - using AI to improve existing prompts:

The Prompt Analyser:

You are a prompt optimisation specialist. Analyse this prompt for:
1. Clarity of instruction
2. Potential ambiguities
3. Missing constraints
4. Edge cases not covered
5. Structural improvements

Prompt to analyse:
[Insert prompt here]

Provide specific suggestions for improvement in each category, explaining the reasoning behind each recommendation.

This creates a feedback loop: write, analyze, improve, repeat. Each iteration gets better because we're learning from actual usage and potential issues.

Our AI will give us some feedback and you can manually rewrite or use a simple command like

Apply those recommendations

to improve your prompt.

The Edge Case Explorer

Want to really test your prompts? Have AI try to break them.

Remember we previously did this manually to fit the limits of what our Blueprint prompts could do. Now let’s have AI attack our prompts.

You are a creative prompt tester. Your goal is to find ways this prompt might fail or produce unexpected results.

Consider:
1. Unusual input scenarios
2. Potential misunderstandings
3. Ways the prompt could be misused
4. Performance under stress

Prompt to test:
[Insert prompt here]

For each potential issue, explain why it matters and suggest how to prevent it.

Again once problems have been identified you can fix yourself or ask the AI to apply recommendations.

The real power comes when you start chaining these tools together. For example:

1. Use the Prompt Writer to create your initial prompt

2. Run it through the Analyser

3. Feed it to the Edge Case Explorer

4. Take those insights back to the Prompt Writer

5. Repeat until satisfied

You're not just writing prompts anymore - you're architecting prompt development systems. Fancy eh?? Check you out.

The Human Element

Here's what most people miss about AI-assisted prompt writing: it's not about removing human input, it's about enhancing it.

We still have to do the initial communication of what we are looking for. That part we can’t skip - the AI doesn’t work independently (yet!).

You still need to:

• Understand the business context

• Know what good output looks like

• Recognise when to constrain vs when to allow flexibility

• Judge when a prompt is actually working

Think of AI as your prompt co-pilot. It can help spot issues, suggest improvements, and even write base prompts. But you're still the captain, making the key decisions about what works for your specific needs. Without a captain who actually knows where they want to go the co-pilot is useless.

PS — If you think you’re a clear communicator, you might be interested in training businesses and teams how to use AI. If you are, check out the AI Workshop Kit.