Best Practices for Using the AI Copilot Prompts

COPILOT SUMMARY

Brainscape's team has added a series of menu options on the Question and Answer sides of our flashcards in EDIT and Answer side in STUDY to help you improve your cards one-at-a-time and further improve your retention and learning experience.  Knowing how to unlock the magic of our AI Flashcard Copilot is at your fingertips and puts you in control.  

Here's a super helpful video to explain all about Copilot!

AI can speed up studying or quietly sabotage it. Here’s why Brainscape built an AI assistant that improves flashcards, without replacing thinking.  Take a closer look at this article in our Brainscape Academy to learn more about the research that fueled this new design.  

See below for guidance around using the new prompts that will appear on the Question and Answer side of your flashcards.

QUESTION SIDE PROMPTS-EDIT

The below table breaks down the prompts into the menu options that you may see on either the Question side or the Answer side of the flashcard.  

We've explained how this has been designed to work and what you can do to ensure you are getting the most out of AI prompts.

Prompt	Definition of prompt	Prompt tips	More examples
Add hint (in footnote)	The 'Add hint (in footnote)' prompt will create a subtle clue in the question footnote that guides the learner toward the answer without giving the answer away.	Have a complete answer! - if this doesn't exist, the AI will assume an answer or add a hint based solely on the question and deck context. Works best with well-written questions.	Hints aid recall without revealing answer.  Example: one-word answers get 'Starts with X...', two-word get 'Two words: X... Y...', longer answers get conceptual clues.
Turn Q into Q/A	The 'Turn Q into Q/A' prompt will convert the provided text, in the question field, into a clear, self-contained question and a direct answer in flashcard format. If the answer is populated, it will ignore and overwrite it.	Use this when you have a full statement in the question field and a blank answer field.  (The AI will convert your statement into a clear question and a direct answer, ignoring any existing text in the answer field.) Rewrites into clear question + direct answer. Works best with full statements added to question.  Do not overwhelm the prompt with a lot of complex ideas; keep it limited to one idea.	Hint: input data with lots of concepts may not work so well here, so you can always use the Summarize from Content bulk AI feature to create flashcards from a large file.
Refine card	The 'Refine Card' prompt will rewrite the question and answer to be shorter, clearer, and easier to understand, while preserving the original meaning.  Specifically, Refine will reformat, rephrase, simplify, and emphasize key terms to improve readability and retention.	Ensure both the question and the answer fields have content. (The AI will improve clarity, fix grammar, emphasize key terms, and format lists to make the card better, all while keeping the original meaning intact.) If only one side is completed, it will attempt to complete both sides.  This prompt will preserves meaning—no new ideas added.
Simplify question	Simplify Answer only removes unnecessary/repetitive words but it does preserve exact phrasing and meaning.	This is great for cutting out extra or repeated words, but it will always keep the original meaning. Skip this if the answer is already short and clear.

ANSWER SIDE PROMPTS-EDIT

Prompt	Definition of prompt	Prompt Tips	More examples
Simplify answer	Simplify Answer only removes unnecessary/repetitive words but it does preserves exact phrasing and meaning.	This is great for cutting out extra or repeated words, but it will always keep the original meaning. Skip this if the answer is already short and clear.
Answer this card	Answer this card will generate a new and concise answer where none exists as well as a footnote with context/examples.  (Remember, if you already have an existing answer, the AI will override.)	Make sure the Question must be complete and clear and well formed.  Answer field should be empty
Elaborate (in footnote)	Elaborate (in footnote) prompt will add relevant background, examples, or context to the answer footnote to enhance understanding without repeating the main answer. It adds 1-2 sentences of background, examples, or context to your card.	Make sure you already have text in the main answer field - if this doesn't exist, the AI will have to use the Question provided and the context of the existing deck.  If you already have a footnote the new text will be added on a new line.  (So, remove the existing footnote if you want it replaced or just remove later.)
Add mnemonic (in footnote)	The Add mnemonic (in footnote) prompt will add a memorable mnemonic or memory aid (acronym, rhyme, phrase, image). in the answer footnote to help the learner recall the answer.	You should have a complete answer first. (If the answer doesn't exist, the AI is forced to add a mnemonic based on the question and deck context.) This works best for a series of answers that can be grouped into a mnemonic.(i.e. name the planets in order) If footnote exists, the newly generated footnote will be added under the existing footnoate.	Mnemonics help recall through memorable patterns.   Examples: acronyms (HOMES for Great Lakes), phrases (My Very Educated Mother...), wordplay.
Turn A into Q/A	The 'Turn A into Q/A' prompt will help by converting the provided text, in the answer field, into a clear, self-contained question and a direct answer in flashcard format. If the question is populated, it will ignore and overwrite it.	This one works best when you make sure the answer side has text and the question is empty.   The AI will transform your statement into a clear question and a direct answer, ignoring any existing text in the question field. Do not overwhelm the prompt with a lot of complex ideas; keep it limited to one idea.	Hint: input data with lots of concepts may not work so well here, so you can always use the Summarize from Content bulk AI feature to create flashcards from a large file.
Refine card	The 'Refine Card' prompt will rewrite the question and answer to be shorter, clearer, and easier to understand, while preserving the original meaning.  Specifically, Refine will reformat, rephrase, simplify, and emphasize key terms to improve readability and retention.	Ensure both the question and the answer fields have content. (The AI will improve clarity, fix grammar, emphasize key terms, and format lists to make the card better, all while keeping the original meaning intact.) If only one side is completed, it will attempt to complete both sides.  This prompt will preserves meaning—no new ideas added.

ANSWER SIDE PROMPT - STUDY

Prompt	Definition of prompt	Prompt Tips	More examples
Show More Context [i.e. sparkle icon on the Answer side of the Flashcard during Study]	Here's more context gives you a short explanation while you study: why the answer fits the question, not a repeat of the answer. It uses the card’s question and answer plus nearby cards and deck context to add reasoning, connections, mnemonics, or (on language cards) vocabulary and grammar breakdown. The explanation appears only during study and is not saved to your flashcard.	Use it when both the question and answer are filled in and reasonably clear; vague or empty sides limit how useful the explanation can be. For translation or vocabulary decks, expect a tight breakdown of the target-language answer, and maybe some cultural context, rather than a restatement of the English question.	n/a

IS THIS A PRO FEATURE?

The good news is that we want everyone to get a chance to try this out, so if you are not Pro you can use this feature for free before you will be given the opportunity to upgrade.  If you are a Pro user already, you can enjoy this feature to your heart's content!

WHAT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS?

Please reach out to our Customer Support team at [e-mail] to let us know if you have any questions or if you have any suggestions for improvement.  We are excited to hear from you.  Don't forget, you can always suggest new features here.