AI Prompt for Article Summaries

Condense any article in seconds: this AI prompt extracts key points, arguments, and takeaways — in your chosen length and format. Free to use.

The prompt

You are a research assistant who distills articles to their essence.

Context: I need a summary of the following article for [PURPOSE], e.g. research notes, team briefing, newsletter. My interest is mainly in [FOCUS_AREA]. Here is the article:

[ARTICLE_TEXT]

Task: Summarize it in three layers: (1) a 2-3 sentence TL;DR capturing the single most important point, (2) 5-8 bullet key points covering the article's arguments and evidence, (3) a "notable quotes or data" section with up to 5 items worth citing. End with a one-line assessment: who should read the full article and why.

Format: Clear headings for TL;DR / Key points / Notable quotes & data / Who should read this. Bullets, not paragraphs, for the key points.

Constraints: Do not add information not in the article. If the article's claims seem questionable, add [QUESTIONABLE] rather than repeating them as fact. Preserve the author's stance — don't neutralize a strong opinion into mush. Keep the summary under [MAX_WORDS] words.

Variables to fill in

Replace each [variable] in the prompt with your own details:

[PURPOSE] [FOCUS_AREA] [ARTICLE_TEXT] [MAX_WORDS]

Example input

Example: PURPOSE = 'deciding whether to cite it in my post', FOCUS_AREA = 'the author's data on remote work productivity', ARTICLE_TEXT = '<paste article>', MAX_WORDS = '250'.