AI prompt design for public health: Using generative AI responsibly

Abstract

A good prompt acts like a roadmap, giving the AI focus, reducing confusion, and ensuring the final content is accurate, inclusive, and ready for use. The document presents prompt design as a necessary skill for public health workers to determine the message, its framing, and its intended recipient. The publication breaks down the essential parts of a prompt, such as its objective, audience, format, tone, and context, offering practical ways to avoid common mistakes that lead to vague, inaccurate, or useless results. The text also explains how prompt design can serve as a form of quality control and a tool for using "bias-aware" strategies to minimize harm. The document also covers how to embed prompting into public health workflows, suggesting that prompts should be seen as "living protocols" that can be refined over time. It recommends creating institutional prompt libraries to ensure consistency and efficiency. Ultimately, the publication stresses that human oversight is crucial for checking and approving all AI-generated material making prompt design a fundamental skill for the public health sector's digital future.