Phase 0: How AI Actually Reads Your Words · 30 min · ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini (any)

Tokens, Context Windows & Temperature

Three technical concepts, zero math. Just analogies that make your prompts better.

Real-world application: What changes when you use this: you stop hitting context limits by accident, you know when to ask for creative vs safe output, and you can explain these concepts to a non-technical colleague without jargon.

What you will learn

Understand what a token is and why AI sometimes misspells or miscounts
Understand what a context window is and why long chats start to forget earlier details
Understand what temperature is and how it controls safe vs creative output
Know how these three concepts change your prompting behavior

Introduction

Tokens, Context Windows & Temperature

Objective

Observe all three concepts — tokens, context window, and temperature — in a real conversation and document what you notice.

Three technical concepts, zero math. Just analogies that make your prompts better.

Unlock the full lesson

You've read the first 2 sections. The rest of this lesson covers The Problem, The Concept, Build, Check Yourself, Key Terms & Next — plus a hands-on lab, quiz, and project artifact.

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