Practical Guide to AI Collaboration for Different Thinking Styles

Working with AI can help support various cognitive styles that don't always align with traditional workplace expectations. This guide offers practical prompting strategies that can benefit anyone, followed by specific guidance for those who choose to explicitly incorporate their neurodivergent identity into their AI interactions.

Universal Prompting Strategies

1. Structure and Organization Support

  1. “Could you help me organize these thoughts into clear, structured points?”
  2. “As we work together, please let me know if we're moving off-topic while still noting valuable side insights.”
  3. “Can you help me identify which of these ideas are essential for the current project versus worth saving for later?”

2. Communication Refinement

  1. “Could you help me present this information in layers – starting with headlines and then adding detail where needed?”
  2. “As I explain this concept, please let me know if the level of detail seems appropriate for the audience.”
  3. “Can you help me identify the core message within this detailed explanation?”

3. Pattern Recognition Support

  1. “I notice I tend to [describe pattern]. Could you help me recognize when this happens and suggest ways to manage it effectively?”
  2. “Could you reflect back to me when my explanations might benefit from more structure?”
  3. “Please let me know if we're diving deeper into details than might be useful for the current goal.”

4. Focus and Prioritization

  1. “Can you help me maintain focus on the main objective while capturing valuable tangential insights for later?”
  2. “Would you help me identify which aspects of this topic are most relevant to our current goal?”
  3. “Could you assist me in deciding which of these interesting directions to pursue now versus later?”

Explicit Prompting Strategies for Neurodivergent Individuals

For those who identify as neurodivergent and wish to incorporate this context explicitly into their AI interactions, you can enhance the above strategies with more specific prompting:

1. Setting Context

  1. “I'm neurodivergent and sometimes I [specific trait, e.g., 'get very excited about tangential ideas' or 'provide very detailed explanations']. Could you help me notice these patterns while we work together?”
  2. “As someone with [ADHD/autism/etc.], I find [specific challenge] particularly difficult. Could you help me manage this while we work?”

2. Requesting Specific Support

“Given my neurodivergent perspective, could you help me identify when I might be:
– Going into more detail than needed for this audience
– Shifting into divergent thinking mode
– Moving away from the core topic while exploring interesting connections”

3. Leveraging Strengths

  1. “As a neurodivergent person, one of my strengths is [specific trait]. Could you help me harness this while ensuring our work stays accessible to others?”
  2. “Could you help me find ways to use my detail-oriented thinking/pattern recognition/[other trait] effectively in this project?”

Remember: The goal of these prompting strategies isn't to change your thinking style but to create productive collaboration that honors your cognitive approach while meeting project needs. Whether you choose to explicitly mention neurodivergence or not, these prompting techniques can help create a more effective and comfortable working relationship with AI assistants.

Conclusion

AI collaboration offers unique opportunities to enhance communication effectiveness and professional output while honoring different cognitive styles. Whether you identify as neurodivergent or simply find traditional workplace conventions challenging, these prompting strategies can help create a more productive and authentic work experience.

The key is finding the right balance between leveraging your natural thinking style and meeting external requirements. With thoughtful prompting and consistent practice, AI collaboration can become a valuable tool for professional growth and workplace success.

The prompt examples in this guide were developed in collaboration with Claude, an AI assistant from Anthropic. The classification and organization of these prompts into categories for different needs and use cases was also done collaboratively with Claude.

#AI #Neurodivergence #Autism #ADHD