beginner
No prior experience assumed.
20 tagged items
- GuideUniversal
AI for school and exams: rules, citing and checking
What to check before you use AI for school work, how to cite it, and how to use it so you actually learn instead of copying.
- GuideUniversal
Free or paid AI: which plan fits you
A decision guide for choosing between a free tier, a paid plan and the API, based on how you use AI and not on price lists that go stale.
- GuideUniversal
Can you tell if AI wrote a text?
Why AI detectors are unreliable, what signs people notice, and what to do if a tool says your own writing is AI.
- GuideUniversal
Using AI for a CV and cover letter
How to get a CV and cover letter that sound like you, what to give the model, what to check before you send, and what never to paste into a chat.
- GuideUniversal
How to install a plugin, skill or extension
Where to find the install menu in Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude Code, Cursor and VS Code, how to check an add-on before you trust it, and what to…
- GuideUniversal
Where your data goes when you use an AI app
A plain comparison of what to check about privacy in free chat apps, paid plans, work accounts, the API and local models.
- GuideUniversal
Ways to use AI without paying
The free ways to use AI, where each one runs out, and a simple test for whether free is enough for your task.
- GuideUniversal
Turn a messy task into a prompt in five minutes
Most weak prompts come from a task nobody fully described. A five-step routine to fix that before you type, with a worked example.
- GuideUniversal
Using AI to study without outsourcing the thinking
Reading a good explanation feels like understanding. Trying to use it is what builds understanding. Here is how to make a model push you toward the…
- GuideUniversal
How to check what an AI tells you
A few checks that catch most wrong answers: which claims to verify, how to ask for sources, and why a confident tone tells you nothing.
- GuideUniversal
What not to paste into a chat window
Anything you paste goes to a service someone else runs. What to keep out, how to redact in its place, and the one settings check worth doing.
- GuideUniversal
How to write a prompt that actually works
A short checklist to run any prompt through before you send it: who, what, shape and what to leave out. Those four things separate a specific prompt…
- GuideUniversal
Common prompt mistakes and how to fix them
Five patterns that reliably give a worse answer than you meant, each with a one-line fix. Use it as a checklist when a prompt keeps returning…
- Local setupLlama
Running your first local model
Ollama on an ordinary laptop, from install to a model answering in about ten minutes. It also shows how to work out which size fits before you…
Tested on Llama 3.2 8B · May 2026
Teacher who checks the starting level first
Asks one question about what you already know before it explains. That beats guessing your level and landing an explanation that is too basic or…
Tested on Claude Sonnet · Jun 2026
Teacher who checks where you are
Explains at your level and not the manual level. It asks one question first and builds on what you say you already know.
Tested on Gemini Pro · May 2026
- GuideUniversal
Giving a model a role and constraints
How naming the audience, the format and the exclusions turns unpredictable answers into repeatable ones.
- PromptUniversal
Explain this code to a new maintainer
Explains what a file does, why it is shaped that way, and where the traps are - aimed at someone about to change it.
Related terms
Large language model LLM
A model trained on huge amounts of text to predict the next token. That one skill lets it write, summarise, translate and reason over text.