,Generative AI
by Pam Baker
,Generative AI For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and
training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Media and software compilation copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for
text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections
107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to
the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River
Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related
trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written
permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated
with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS
OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES
OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR
EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED
IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS
REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE
PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN
ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF
FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION
THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS
SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED
BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within
the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit
https://hub.wiley.com/community/support/dummies.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with
standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to
media that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.
wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number is available from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-394-27074-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-394-27076-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-394-27075-0 (ebk)
, Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Foolish Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Icons Used in This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Beyond the Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Where to Go from Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
PART 1: DIVING INTO GENERATIVE AI FUNDAMENTALS. . . . 5
CHAPTER 1: Mapping the Lay of the Generative AI Land . . . . . . . . . . 7
So, What Exactly Is Generative AI? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Unveiling the BIG Secret to Working Successfully with GenAI . . . . . . . 10
Understanding the Infamous Finger Problem and Other
GenAI Quirks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figuring Out How to Work with GenAI — It’s All About
Your Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Why GenAI appears so human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Realizing the human influences behind
Generative AI’s abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Discovering the Differences in GenAI Models and Options . . . . . . . . . 17
Checking Out Practical Uses of GenAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Separating Gen AI Fact from Fiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CHAPTER 2: Introducing the Art of Prompt Engineering. . . . . . . . . . 23
First Things First: What Is a Prompt? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Revealing the Secret Behind Successful Prompting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Discovering the secret sauce in prompt engineering. . . . . . . . . . . .25
Understanding how prompts guide GenAI responses. . . . . . . . . . . 25
Crafting Effective Prompts for Diverse AI Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tips and Tricks for Optimizing Your Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Using Prompts to Provide Supplemental Data for the Model . . . . . . . 31
Avoiding Common Prompting Pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CHAPTER 3: Collaborating Creatively with GenAI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Exploring Human-AI Partnerships in Creative Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The role of AI in art, music, writing, and video production. . . . . . . 37
Different art forms, same prompting issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Looking at some benefits of using GenAI as a creative tool. . . . . . 40
Collaborative success stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Table of Contents iii
by Pam Baker
,Generative AI For Dummies®
Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and
training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Media and software compilation copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for
text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies.
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections
107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to
the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River
Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related
trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and may not be used without written
permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. is not associated
with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS
OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES
OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR
EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED
IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS
REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE
PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN
ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF
FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION
THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS
SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED
BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ.
For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within
the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit
https://hub.wiley.com/community/support/dummies.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with
standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to
media that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.
wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Control Number is available from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-394-27074-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-394-27076-7 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-394-27075-0 (ebk)
, Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
About This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Foolish Assumptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Icons Used in This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Beyond the Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Where to Go from Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
PART 1: DIVING INTO GENERATIVE AI FUNDAMENTALS. . . . 5
CHAPTER 1: Mapping the Lay of the Generative AI Land . . . . . . . . . . 7
So, What Exactly Is Generative AI? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Unveiling the BIG Secret to Working Successfully with GenAI . . . . . . . 10
Understanding the Infamous Finger Problem and Other
GenAI Quirks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Figuring Out How to Work with GenAI — It’s All About
Your Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Why GenAI appears so human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Realizing the human influences behind
Generative AI’s abilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Discovering the Differences in GenAI Models and Options . . . . . . . . . 17
Checking Out Practical Uses of GenAI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Separating Gen AI Fact from Fiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
CHAPTER 2: Introducing the Art of Prompt Engineering. . . . . . . . . . 23
First Things First: What Is a Prompt? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Revealing the Secret Behind Successful Prompting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Discovering the secret sauce in prompt engineering. . . . . . . . . . . .25
Understanding how prompts guide GenAI responses. . . . . . . . . . . 25
Crafting Effective Prompts for Diverse AI Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Tips and Tricks for Optimizing Your Prompts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Using Prompts to Provide Supplemental Data for the Model . . . . . . . 31
Avoiding Common Prompting Pitfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
CHAPTER 3: Collaborating Creatively with GenAI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Exploring Human-AI Partnerships in Creative Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
The role of AI in art, music, writing, and video production. . . . . . . 37
Different art forms, same prompting issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Looking at some benefits of using GenAI as a creative tool. . . . . . 40
Collaborative success stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Table of Contents iii
