Your boss forwarded you an AI answer as the brief. Before you spend a day decoding it, send 2 questions and ask for the prompt.
Why ask for the prompt
On Hacker News, one person described exactly this. His boss emailed the team an AI reply about an assignment. He asked for the prompt: "It turned out his prompt was equally uninspired... 1 or 2 sentences." His take: "He could have saved the whole team a full day by just sending the prompt."
The prompt shows what your boss actually wanted. The AI's answer shows what the AI guessed.
The reply
Keep it neutral and curious. You're asking for the brief, not pointing at the AI.
Thanks. 2 questions before I start: what's the one result you need, and by when? Could you send the prompt you used?
The assumptions prompt (optional)
Paste the forwarded answer into your own AI (a work-approved one if your company has one), then send this:
List what this assumes about our team that the writer never said.
You'll get a list of things the answer took for granted: team size, budget, tools, time. Take the 3 that matter most to a 10-minute call instead of writing a 2-page reply.
The mistake to avoid
Treating the forwarded answer as the brief and starting work on all of it. It wasn't written for your team, so check what it assumes first.