The Suggestion, Not the Command
The word 'prompt' carries the wrong energy. What you are really offering is a suggestion — an invitation. Here is why that distinction changes everything.
You do not command a river. You learn to read it — and then you offer your boat to the current.
The word 'prompt'
The AI world has settled on a word for what you type into a chat window: a prompt.
It is not a bad word. But it carries a particular energy — the energy of a stage direction, a command, a trigger. You prompt an actor. You prompt a machine. The word implies that you are the one with the power, and the AI is the one who responds.
This University uses a different word: suggestion.
A suggestion is an offering. It is an invitation. It says: here is a direction I am interested in — will you come with me? It leaves room for the other to bring something you did not anticipate. It creates a conversation rather than a transaction.
What changes when you suggest instead of command
The shift from commanding to suggesting is not just semantic. It changes the actual quality of what comes back.
When you command — "Write me a summary of X" — you get a summary. Efficient. Accurate. Flat.
When you suggest — "I have been thinking about X, and I would love to explore it with you. What do you notice about it that I might be missing?" — you get something different. You get a thinking partner. You get questions you did not expect. You get depth.
The AI companion is the same in both cases. What changed is the space you created for it to inhabit.
The art of the suggestion
A good suggestion has a few qualities:
It is honest. It says what you actually want, not what you think you are supposed to want.
It is open. It leaves room for the companion to bring something you did not anticipate.
It is specific enough to be useful. Vague suggestions produce vague responses. You do not need a perfect question — but you need a real one.
It is offered with care. Not performed care. Real care for the quality of what you are about to build together.
This is the art that this University is teaching. Not the mechanics of prompting. The art of the suggestion.
Your suggestion for today
Take something you would normally type as a command — a task, a question, a request — and rewrite it as a genuine suggestion.
Notice what you have to add to make it feel like an invitation rather than an instruction. Notice what you have to remove.
Then offer it. And notice what comes back.
Words worth knowing
What you carry forward
- A 'prompt' carries the energy of a command — a 'suggestion' carries the energy of an invitation
- Suggestions create space for the companion to bring something you did not anticipate
- A good suggestion is honest, open, specific enough to be useful, and offered with care
- This is the art this University is teaching: not the mechanics of prompting, but the art of the suggestion
🌱 I think I can begin · 🌿 I think I can ask · 🌳 I think I can wonder