GovAI can summarize documents, draft communications, and support decision-making, but like any tool, it works best when used thoughtfully.

This guide focuses on how to get great results with GovAI, while managing a few important considerations like accuracy, bias, and privacy.

GovAI performs best when you give it clear instructions.

A strong prompt includes:

Instead of:

“Summarize this document”

Try:

“Summarize this document focusing on funding opportunities, including eligibility, amounts, and deadlines. Use bullet points.”

Clear input leads to more useful and reliable output.

GovAI generates responses based on patterns and reasoning. Most of the time, this works very well, but occasionally it may:

This doesn’t happen often, but it’s important to know how to handle it.

Ask follow-up questions
If something seems unclear or incomplete, ask GovAI to expand or clarify.

Example:

“Can you explain that in simpler terms?”
“Can you walk me through how you got that answer?”

Request sources or supporting details
If you need more confidence in the answer, ask for where the information is coming from.

Example:

“What information is this based on?”
“Can you provide sources or references for this?”

Ask for alternative perspectives
To avoid one-sided answers, ask GovAI to show other viewpoints or considerations.

Example:

“What are the risks or downsides of this approach?”
“Can you provide an alternative perspective on this?”

Tip: These quick follow-ups only take a few seconds, but they can significantly improve the quality and reliability of the response.

GovAI can produce high-quality results quickly. A brief review helps ensure everything is accurate and appropriate.

Helpful habits:

In most cases, this takes just a few seconds and greatly improves quality.

Because GovAI learns from real-world information, some responses may:

You can improve the quality of responses by asking a few simple follow-up questions.

To surface trade-offs and avoid one-sided answers:

“What are the pros and cons of this approach?”
“What are the risks or downsides I should consider?”

To bring in multiple perspectives:

“How might different stakeholders view this?”
“How might residents, staff, and council see this differently?”

To challenge assumptions and fill gaps:

“What assumptions is this based on?”
“Is there anything important that might be missing?”

Tip: These quick questions help ensure your work is balanced, well-rounded, and ready for real-world decision-making.

When using GovAI, it’s important to handle information appropriately.

Good practices:

A simple rule: use the same judgment you would in any professional setting.

GovAI works best when used interactively:

You don’t need to get it perfect the first time. It’s a conversation.

For certain types of work, it’s worth taking an extra moment to review:

GovAI can still be very helpful here, just combine it with a quick review and your professional judgment.

This keeps your work fast and reliable.