If you’re using Generative AI @ Pitt to help you work more efficiently, you probably already know that speed isn’t the only thing that matters. The way you use GenAI can also shape how your work lands with the people who read it — your colleagues, your manager, your peers.
That’s where AI etiquette comes in. These tips come from AI expert Gianluca Mauro as part of the LinkedIn Learning course “AI Etiquette at Work: 7 Habits to Protect Professional Credibility“ — a course that can help you use these tools in a way that builds trust instead of eroding it. Here are four of the seven habits this course covers:
🗺️ Plan Before You Prompt
It’s tempting to hand AI one giant task and hope for the best: Write my whole report or draft my entire presentation. But the more ambitious the task, the more likely you’ll end up with something generic — or something you have to scrap and start over again anyway.
Mauro’s course introduces a simple PACT framework for staying in control of bigger tasks:
- Plan it out. What are the two or three stages this task naturally breaks into?
- Ask with context. What does the AI need to know, and what does “good” look like to you?
- Check the output against your plan, not just for accuracy, but for direction. Is this actually where you wanted to go?
- Tweak as needed, using what you learned from checking.
This kind of staged approach gives you far more control than a single mega-prompt ever could.
✨ You’re the Expert That AI Isn’t
Whatever you’re an expert in — your research area, your department’s processes, your special interests — that expertise is your advantage when working with AI. You already know which sources are legit, what a strong outcome looks like, and where there’s room for nuance. Use that knowledge to steer the tool: Point it toward the right context up front, and use your judgment to spot the inaccuracies AI can produce.
On the flip side, when you’re using AI to help with something outside your expertise — brainstorming a topic you don’t know well, for example — treat the output as a starting point for a conversation with someone who actually knows the subject, not as the final word.
🤝 Respect Your Reader’s Time
GenAI can generate a lot of text fast, which makes it easy to send along a much longer document than anyone actually asked for. Before you hit send, think about the person on the other end. Does your colleague really want a six-page brief, or would a tight, clear summary serve them better?
And if you really do need a lot of text, try asking your GenAI tool to add a short summary at the top of longer documents, tailored to what you believe your reader will care the most about. It takes one extra sentence in your prompt and can make the difference between a document people read and one they skim past.
🪞 Ask for Pushback, Not Praise
GenAI tools are built to be agreeable, which means they’ll sometimes praise an idea that could use more work. If you’re using a GenAI tool for feedback, try asking it to push back a little: What are three ways this could fall short? What am I missing? What would someone who disagrees with this say? You’ll get a more useful answer than a round of digital applause — and a better final product because of it.
🌟 Make It a Habit
None of these habits require a technical background. You just need to be intentional about how you use the tools available to you. Small shifts in how you plan, prompt, and check your work go a long way toward making sure what you produce is something you — and everyone reading it — are glad to see.
Ready to go deeper? Complete the full course and earn the certificate in less than 45 minutes. Log in to LinkedIn Learning with your Pitt credentials, and see how you can build “AI Etiquette at Work: 7 Habits to Protect Professional Credibility.”
— Pitt Digital
