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Before you share · A fictional practice exercise

What Does AI Need?

Before pasting a whole note into ChatGPT or another AI tool, decide which details actually help with the job.

Try a made-up customer update or delivery complaint. Keep, remove or generalise each detail and see the prompt change. You’ll learn when less information is enough, and when removing a fact makes the task harder.

No AI account needed. Nothing to upload. This is practice with supplied examples, not a service for cleaning your real documents.

1. Choose a fictional case

All details below are made up. Work only with this example; there is no box for your real information.

Prepare a calm, short update explaining the current problem and the next planned step, without promising a fix.

  • Explain what is still unresolved
  • Keep the next step separate from a promised result
  • Use placeholders for customer details

3. Choose what goes in

Keep includes the exact detail. Remove leaves it out. Generalise replaces it with broader wording. Start with a name or an unrelated detail, then try removing a fact the task needs.

Customer name

Customer: Mira Example.

In your prompt: Customer: Mira Example.

Kept as written. A generic draft does not need this identifier.

Case reference

Case reference: DEMO-2048.

In your prompt: Case reference: DEMO-2048.

Kept as written. A generic draft does not need this identifier.

Unresolved problem

The equipment order has not passed final testing. The cause is still unknown.

In your prompt: The equipment order has not passed final testing. The cause is still unknown.

Kept as written. The update needs the unresolved status. Removing it leaves the customer without an explanation.

Status dates

As of 12 October 2026, testing has been paused since 9 October 2026. No completion date is confirmed.

In your prompt: As of 12 October 2026, testing has been paused since 9 October 2026. No completion date is confirmed.

Kept as written. The elapsed time and unconfirmed completion date explain the delay.

Next planned step

An engineer plans to investigate on 13 October 2026. A fix and delivery date have not been agreed.

In your prompt: An engineer plans to investigate on 13 October 2026. A fix and delivery date have not been agreed.

Kept as written. The reader needs the next planned step and its limits. An investigation is not a promised fix.

Distinctive customer detail

The customer runs the only overnight laboratory at Example Quay.

In your prompt: The customer runs the only overnight laboratory at Example Quay.

Kept as written. This detail does not help explain the current status or next step.

Unrelated personal note

The customer is planning a surprise anniversary trip.

In your prompt: The customer is planning a surprise anniversary trip.

Kept as written. The personal plans are unrelated to the stated task.

Your task: Draft a customer update

The prompt you’re building

This preview is assembled from your choices. No AI has written or checked an answer.

Draft a neutral customer-status update using only the details below. Preserve uncertainty and distinguish a planned investigation from a confirmed fix. Do not invent missing facts or commitments. Leave any missing identifiers as placeholders. Fictional practice details: Customer: Mira Example. Case reference: DEMO-2048. The equipment order has not passed final testing. The cause is still unknown. As of 12 October 2026, testing has been paused since 9 October 2026. No completion date is confirmed. An engineer plans to investigate on 13 October 2026. A fix and delivery date have not been agreed. The customer runs the only overnight laboratory at Example Quay. The customer is planning a surprise anniversary trip.

Left out: Nothing yet. Try removing a detail that does not help the task.

Check what changed ↓

4. Does it still do the job?

Information the task is missing

The selected details retain this case’s stated task requirements. That does not establish permission to share them.

What could still identify someone?

Names, addresses or reference details still included: Customer name, Case reference.

  • Exact dates can help someone link this event to another record.
  • The only overnight laboratory at a named location can identify a customer without their name.

Removing names does not guarantee anonymity. This exercise can explain selected clues; it cannot certify that a combination of details is anonymous.

Extra detail still included without helping this task: Distinctive customer detail, Unrelated personal note.

Try a different purpose in step 2 without changing your choices. Watch what happens to the timing feedback. Removing everything is not the goal; keeping enough for the particular task is.

Take the habit with you

Before using a real tool with real information, check:

  1. Is this tool and destination approved for this information? At work, check the organisation’s rules and authorised recipients.
  2. What does this particular service do with inputs, including retention, access and training settings? Check the actual product and account settings.
  3. Can I do the task with less information, with placeholders filled directly at the destination, or without AI?
  4. Removing names does not guarantee anonymity. Dates, places and unusual details may still identify someone together.

Choices last only for this page session; refreshing starts again. Copy or download deliberately to keep the card. The card contains the selected fictional prompt and the checks above. No real-data intake or model call is part of this exercise.

About this case and the guidance

Fictional case. All names, references, places and dates are hypothetical teaching details. Founder Reality editorial exercise. Case version 1.0, reviewed 2026-10-12. These are constructed examples, not accounts of George’s experience or tests of a particular AI product.

The generalisations and feedback are authored teaching choices. They do not grant employer permission, certify privacy, establish claim eligibility or provide legal advice. The underlying information may still be confidential even when names are removed.

Case history: version 1.0 adds these two fictional records and purpose-specific feedback. Revisit when a case, explanation, source or accessibility issue changes; the review date does not make the hypothetical details current facts.