Never take the first answer
Most people ask AI a question, get something decent back, and move on. That first answer is a rough draft. Treating it like the final answer is the single biggest reason people think AI "isn't that good."
Why the first answer is always a draft
It answered with the information it had at that moment, which is whatever you happened to type. It did not ask what you actually meant. It guessed at the gaps. A rough draft from a person would never go out the door unedited. Treat the first AI answer the same way.
The three-line response that fixes almost anything
After any answer that is close but not quite right, come back with these three things, in order. It costs you thirty seconds and it beats rewriting the whole prompt from scratch almost every time.
Two or three rounds beats one clever prompt
People spend a long time trying to write the perfect first prompt. That time is usually better spent going back and forth twice. A short, plain first prompt followed by two rounds of "here's what to fix" almost always beats one long, carefully engineered prompt that tries to get everything right in one shot.
Where this matters most
Anything you are going to send to a customer, post publicly, or use to make a decision. The stakes are exactly where the habit is easiest to skip, because the first answer usually looks finished. It rarely is.
Go one step further
Make it ask you questions first
Instead of answering back and forth, flip it. Have the AI interview you before it writes anything. It is the fastest way to a first draft that does not need three rounds of fixing.
Read the interview step