Definition Specification and promptcraft is stating the goal, context, constraints, format and acceptance criteria whenever you hand work to a machine or a person.
It begins with saying what, for whom and when it counts as done, and grows into turning acceptance criteria into tests and fixing a spec's ambiguities unprompted.
Why it matters with AI
A vague request to an AI gets a vague answer. Deciding up front what 'done' means works the same with an AI as with a human team.
How CIT teaches it: The five-box spec
Students fill five boxes (goal, context, constraints, format, acceptance criteria) before delegating to an AI, then hand the same spec to a classmate and revise it until both produce the same result.
What proficiency looks like at each age
- Elementary Says in one sentence each what is wanted, for whom, and what counts as finished.
- Middle school Writes a five-box spec and turns its acceptance criteria into checkable tests.
- High school Finds and fixes ambiguities in a spec, and refines it by comparing what an AI and a person produced from it.
Four recorded levels
- 1 Emerging Does it when an adult walks through the steps.
- 2 Developing Does it alone on familiar tasks; needs support on new ones.
- 3 Proficient Shows the grade-band indicator on an unfamiliar task, unaided.
- 4 Extending Teaches it to others or carries it into a new field.
Where this skill is used in the CIT Loop
- 3. Compute Pin down what to compute in a spec and sketch the algorithm by hand before any code.
- 6. Share Show it to the people it is for and explain it in your own words, without AI.
Evidence
- OECD & European Commission (2026). Empowering Learners for the Age of AI: An AI Literacy Framework for Primary and Secondary Education. Final version, launched 18 June 2026. AI literacy is more than tool use: four domains (Engage with AI, Create with AI, Manage AI, Shape AI) and 19 competences.
Courses that train this skill
- AI olympiad track · What does a model learn when it learns?
Related skills
A2 Delegation & VerificationA3 Trust CalibrationA4 Ethical & Futures Judgment
First Principles Thinking: Every lesson opens with one first-principles question. Metacognition: Every lesson closes with a teach-back or a calibration check.