Ever feel like you’re talking to a brick wall when you’re using an AI tool?
You pay your $20 or $30 a month, you type in what you think is a brilliant idea… and you get back something… well, lame. The video is flat. The image is generic. The text is bland. It’s frustrating, right? You see all these amazing AI creations online and wonder what you’re doing wrong.
Here’s the secret: The problem often isn’t the tool. It’s the prompt.
And I’m not just talking about adding a few more adjectives. I’m talking about giving the AI a structured, detailed recipe for what you want. I’m talking about using JSON prompts.
From Vague Ideas to a Director’s Blueprint
Think of it like ordering a pizza.
A standard prompt is like walking into a restaurant and saying, “I want a pizza.” You might get cheese, you might get pepperoni, you might get anchovies and pineapple. Who knows? You left it all up to the chef.
A JSON prompt, on the other hand, is like giving the chef a detailed, written order: “12-inch thin crust, light tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni on the left half, mushrooms on the right, and a sprinkle of oregano. Cook for 12 minutes at 450°F.”
You’re not leaving anything to chance. You get exactly what you want.
I was playing around with Google’s new V3 video model in Gemini, and this concept hit me like a ton of bricks. My first attempt was a simple prompt: “Create a cinematic video of a car entering a city and a person getting out.”
The result was… okay. Kinda boring.
Then, I switched to the more advanced, code-oriented interface. It wasn’t just a single text box anymore. It was a whole control panel, a director’s chair. Suddenly, I could define:
- The Scene: What’s happening?
- The Style: Is it cinematic, vintage, futuristic?
- The Camera: How is it moving? Is it a wide shot, a close-up? What’s the focus?
- The Lighting: Is it golden hour, moody nighttime, harsh daylight?
- The Characters: What do they look like? What are they doing?
- The Location: Where are we?
By filling in all these details—using a structured JSON format—I was giving the AI a blueprint. When I hit “generate” this time, the difference was night and day. The video had mood, dynamic movement, and a sense of story. It went from a dull clip to a cinematic scene.
It’s Not Just for Video
This is where it gets really exciting. This “recipe” method works for almost any AI task.
Generating Images: I asked an AI to generate a JSON prompt for an image of a person in a city center. It came back with a detailed structure. I plugged that into an image tool, and boom. The result was incredible. You could see the detail in the sneakers, the realistic shadows from the people and the cars, the sunlight streaming from a specific direction. It wasn’t just a “person in a city”; it was a fully realized moment.
Writing Articles: Need to write a blog post? Instead of just giving it a topic, you can use a JSON prompt to define the title, tone (e.g., “informative but conversational”), target_audience, desired length, and even the section-by-section structure with headings. You’re not just asking for an article; you’re giving the AI a professional content brief.
Building Websites: This is where it gets really wild. There are tools emerging that build websites based on prompts. Instead of a vague command like “create an e-commerce site,” you can feed it a JSON file that specifies the tagline, the color_palette, the font, the layout (like a large hero banner and sticky nav), and even sample_products. The AI takes this detailed blueprint and delivers a fully fleshed-out website.
You Don’t Have to Be a Coder to Do This
Now, you might be looking at all this talk of JSON and thinking, “I’m not a programmer! This sounds complicated.”
Here’s the best part: You don’t have to write this code yourself.
Just ask your favorite AI assistant to do it for you.
Seriously. Go to ChatGPT or Gemini and type:
"Generate a detailed JSON prompt for an AI video generator to create a scene where a detective is investigating a rainy, neon-lit alley at night."
It will spit out the structured code for you. All you have to do is copy and paste it into the AI tool you’re using. You’re using AI to create better prompts for other AI. It’s a beautiful loop.
So, the next time you’re disappointed with an AI’s output, don’t blame the tool. Try giving it a better recipe. Stop shouting simple sentences into the void and start handing it a detailed blueprint. It’s a small shift in approach that makes a world of difference.