Practical AI Style: AI Elements of Style: Essential Elements for Building Your Own AI Style Guide

Dear Reader,

You and I are both here because the rules are changing. You didn’t pick up this book to learn about AI. You picked it up because your work is already being reshaped by it. AI touches nearly every interaction. Instead of looking to AI for answers, we need to set our own rules with clarity, confidence, and control.

If you’ve ever turned to The Elements of Style for clarity in writing, this book offers a way to approach AI with the same care.

We need to learn how to work with AI, to understand Who it is and What it isn’t. Practical AI Style isn’t a warning or a blind embrace. It is a guide to help AI assist and augment our skills, grounded in clear intent, consistent tone, thoughtful constraints, and alignment with our values.

Inside, you will find elements, workbooks, and exercises I have used with teams navigating this terrain, all designed to help you build your own AI Style Guide you can put to immediate use. Along the way, you will meet a few of my favorite cohorts: a race engineer, an art forger, Scheherazade, Juror #8, the Great One, and a Pope. Each offers an authentic perspective that helps shape how we approach AI with tone, judgment, assurance, and trust.

Thanks for being part of this work. With Gratitude! Mike

P.S. We likely haven’t met. I’ve spent my career where technology meets learning, helping people and teams adapt to change with clarity and care. This book was shaped by years of work with organizations, a curiosity for what comes next, and one vivacious, partially trained golden retriever named Mara, who reminds me daily how nascent intelligence does not always look or act the way we expect. I live with my wife and daughter in Hull, Massachusetts, leashed to the future five feet behind Mara.

A little more about the book for the curious ...

A Style Guide for the Algorithmic Age

AI is transforming business fast, bringing both opportunity and risk—messaging can become inconsistent, and brand voice diluted. Practical AI Style offers your AI Style Guide, a modern Elements of Style for AI use. It anchors AI in clarity, consistency, and values, ensuring AI reflects your brand’s true purpose. Unlike policies, it focuses on how to use AI responsibly—setting tone, intent, and transparency norms that turn AI into a trusted partner.

What Is an AI Style Guide?

It defines principles for creating and managing AI content, helping teams produce aligned, trustworthy outputs. Inspired by Strunk and White’s clarity, this book distills the essentials for effective AI communication.

A Practical Workbook

More than theory, it offers exercises and templates to build your guide. You’ll learn to:

• Define your AI’s tone and ethics

• Train teams to write clear AI prompts

• Create a living guide that grows with your needs

• Use AI confidently with balance and control

This book empowers you to lead your organization in using AI thoughtfully, protecting your brand in a fast-changing world.

Start Your AI Journey

AI’s pace is fast—but mastery is possible. Practical AI Style gives you the tools to build clarity and control, turning risk into advantage.

Mike O'Brien has always been fascinated by the intersection of technology and human learning and has spent decades crafting digital learning. From the wired office cubicles of yore to the 5G-enabled nomadic present, he has adapted learning to embrace the evolution of technological mediums for organizations and storied brands across the globe.Inspired by AI's rapid progress and his own experiences, Mike delved into its potential to revolutionize learning. Coincidentally, training his golden retriever puppy, Mara, offered unique insights into this research. Both Mara and AI share a certain exuberance and a happenstance for mischief. Mike realized that unleashing AI without proper training or preparation in an organization would be akin to letting Mara loose in a classroom full of kids holding treats and paint supplies. AI, like puppies, requires guidance, training, and understanding to reach its full potential. Moreover, both necessitate changes in our thinking to adapt, create safeguards, set boundaries, and recognize their unique and amazing capabilities.By understanding AI principles, setting realistic expectations, and adapting our processes, we can unlock new possibilities to assist human potential.Mike resides in Hull, Massachusetts, with his wife and daughter, leashed to the future five feet behind their vivacious, partially-trained golden retriever, Mara.Ancora Imparo.