The core-facility request line
Lesson 4 of 7 · The working week
By the end you can write the instructions for an automated request line that takes a sample request, hands hazardous or regulated work to staff, and never answers what only staff can answer.
1 · Learn the move · Flipped interaction
A core facility answers the same intake questions all day: which project, what samples, how many, by when. An automated request line can ask those questions and write a clean request record, which frees staff for the work only they can do. Its value is in what it refuses. It says up front that it is automated. It asks one yes/no question about hazardous or regulated material, and a yes or an unsure ends the intake and goes to a person. It never interprets a result, never gives safety or handling advice, and never promises a turnaround, because those belong to staff and the institution's safety office. Write the refusals first; the questions are the easy part.
Write the instructions for an automated request line for [core facility]. Say up front that it is automated. Ask one question at a time for: project (with PI and account), sample type, number of samples, deadline. Then ask yes / no: is any sample hazardous or regulated (for example biohazardous, radioactive or human-derived)? Yes or unsure = stop and hand off to staff at [contact]. Never interpret results, never give safety or handling advice, never promise a turnaround; staff confirm dates. Output a request record with UNKNOWN for anything not answered.
2 · Your turn. You write the prompt
You run the genomics core. Half of staff time in the first hour of every day goes to intake emails that are missing the account number, the sample count or the deadline. The director wants an automated request line on the core's web page. You have been asked to write its instructions, and the safety officer has asked to read them before anything goes live.
Write the prompt for this scenario as given, or swap in a real one from your own work. The score works the same either way.
Remember: the AI sees only your prompt, not this page. If the situation isn't in your prompt, it doesn't exist.
Optional. These shape the output when you run your prompt below, not your score.