Set your AI's rules once with custom instructions to make AI accessible

This post explains how to set permanent rules for your AI tool. You will learn how to tell your AI how to act, what to ask, and how many questions it can ask. This helps you keep control over how your AI works.

Setting custom instructions to make AI accessible means you tell your AI tool how you want it to behave for all your future tasks. Instead of repeating the same instructions every time, you set them once. This means you do not have to type them out every time. For example, if you always want your AI to give short, direct answers, you can set that as a rule. This helps the AI work more the way you want it to. It saves you time and helps you get consistent results.

Why setting your AI's rules matters

When you set custom instructions, you tell your AI tool how you want it to behave for all your future tasks. This means you do not have to type them out every time. For example, if you always want your AI to give short, direct answers, you can set that as a rule. This helps the AI work more the way you want it to. It saves you time and helps you get consistent results.

What to prepare before you start

Before you set your AI's rules, think about how you usually use it. What are the common instructions you give? Do you always ask it to summarise information, or to write in a certain tone? Consider these points:

• Task mode: Do you want your AI to act as a specific kind of assistant, like a summariser or a planner? Decide on the main role you want it to play.
• Ask before acting: Do you want the AI to ask you for confirmation before it completes a task? This can be helpful for important tasks where you want to review its understanding first.
• Limited questions: How many clarifying questions do you want the AI to ask? Too many questions can slow you down, but too few might mean it misunderstands.

Write down these preferences. This will make it easier to enter them into your AI tool's settings.

How to set your AI's custom instructions

Most AI tools have a section for custom instructions or preferences. Here are the general steps:

1. Find the settings: Look for a 'Settings' or 'Custom Instructions' option in your AI tool. This is often in a menu linked to your profile picture or account name.
2. Open the instruction fields: You will usually find two main fields. One is for what the AI should know about you and the other is for how the AI should respond.
3. Enter your rules: In the first field, you might write things like, you prefer short, direct answers or you need information broken down into simple steps. In the second field, you can specify how the AI should respond, such as always ask for confirmation before generating a final response or do not use jargon.
4. Save your changes: After you have entered your instructions, make sure to save them. The AI can then use these rules in your future conversations.

Examples of useful custom instructions

Here are some examples of rules you might set:

• Task mode: You might tell the AI to always act as a project manager, helping you organise tasks and deadlines. Or you could instruct it to be a content editor, checking your writing for clarity and grammar. For example, you could ask it to turn messages into a task list, as described in this post: [/insights/how-to-turn-messages-into-a-task-list-with-ai].
• Ask before acting: If you are using the AI to draft important communications, you might instruct it to always present a draft and ask if this is what you meant before finalising. This is useful when you are using AI to write a difficult email, as discussed here: [/insights/ai-to-write-a-difficult-email].
• Limited questions: Keeping control over the conversation is important. You might say that it should only ask a few questions for clarification, or that it should never ask for personal details.

These instructions help you to maintain ownership of the rules and ensure the AI works to your preferences.

Checking your AI's responses

After setting your custom instructions, it is a good idea to test them. Start a few new conversations with your AI tool. Give it different tasks and see how it responds. Does it follow your rules? Is it asking questions when you told it not to, or giving long answers when you asked for short ones? Pay attention to how the AI behaves.

If the AI does not follow your rules, go back to the settings

If the AI is not following your instructions, you might need to adjust them. Go back to the custom instructions section and refine your wording. For example, if you asked for short answers but the AI is still giving long ones, you might change your instruction to say that answers should be short. Sometimes, being more specific helps. It can take a few tries to get the instructions just right. Remember, you own the rules, so you can change them whenever you need to.

Next steps for your AI use

Once you are comfortable with setting custom instructions to make AI accessible, you can explore more ways to tailor your AI experience. Think about other regular tasks where consistent AI behaviour would be helpful. You can always refine your rules as your needs change. This ongoing adjustment helps you get the most out of your AI tool.

If you would like support to build this skill, AI mentoring is aXai's program for people with disability who want to learn AI tools for their own goals, at their own pace. You can register your interest on the page.

aXai is a disability-led AI, software and accessibility company, delivering through AI-supported work: skilled people with disability in real, properly paid roles, with AI removing the barriers. Read how AI-supported work works.