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Build Your Personal AI Instructions
25–35 minutesBest for: People who want to make their chatbot feel like it actually knows them
What You'll Do
Set up custom instructions for your AI — a short profile that lives in your chatbot's settings so it always knows who you are, how you like to communicate, and what you care about. You won't write these instructions yourself. Instead, you'll paste a prompt into your chatbot and let it interview you, one question at a time. When it's done, it'll hand you a ready-to-paste instructions block.
1Open your preferred chatbot in a browser
ChatGPT: https://chat.openai.com
Claude: https://claude.ai
Gemini: https://gemini.google.com
Start a fresh conversation (not an old one).
Step 2: Copy this entire prompt and paste it into the text box. Hit enter.
Prompt - Copy and paste this:
I want to set up custom instructions for my AI assistant so it always has context about who I am.
Please interview me to gather that information. Ask your questions one at a time — wait for my answer before asking the next one. Don't ask more than 8–10 questions total.
When you've gathered enough, write a clean, ready-to-use custom instructions block I can copy and paste directly into my chatbot's settings. Format it clearly and keep it concise.
Start with your first question now.
3Answer each question naturally
Just type like you're talking to someone. There are no wrong answers. The more specific you are, the better your instructions will be.
4Copy the custom instructions block
When the chatbot finishes interviewing you, it will generate a custom instructions block. Select all of it and copy it.
5Paste your custom instructions into your chatbot's settings
The slides from today's class walk you through exactly where to find this setting for each platform, with screenshots. Go to learning.connormulvaney.com → Week 4 to follow along.
What to Expect
The chatbot will ask you things like what you use AI for, how you prefer to communicate, your background, and maybe your goals. After 8–10 questions, it'll pull everything together into a short paragraph or two you can drop right into settings. From that point on, every new conversation will start with the AI already knowing your context.
Tips
- •Answer the questions in plain language — no need to be formal or technical
- •If a question doesn't apply to you, just say so and the AI will move on
- •If you want to redo the interview with different answers, just start a new chat and paste the prompt again
- •You can always go back and edit your custom instructions later — they're not permanent
Go Further
Once your custom instructions are saved, start a brand new chat and ask the AI something you'd normally ask. Notice whether it feels more personalized. Try asking it something like: "What do you know about me?" — and see what it says.
Saving Your Work
Your custom instructions are saved automatically in your account settings once you paste them in. You don't need to save the conversation itself, but if you want to keep a copy of your instructions: before leaving, select the instructions block in the chat and copy it to a Notes app or document on your phone or computer.
General Tips for All Tasks
If Something Isn't Loading or Working:
- •Try refreshing the page
- •Make sure you're connected to WiFi
- •Try a different browser (Chrome tends to work best for all three tools)
- •Ask Connor for help!
If You Finish Early:
- •Try a second task
- •Help a neighbor get started
- •Revisit today's slides at learning.connormulvaney.com → Week 4
Remember:
- •There's no wrong way to explore — experimenting is the point
- •You don't have to finish everything in 45 minutes
- •Anything you build today is yours to keep and use