How to Make AI Remember Your Preferences with Universal Rules

What Are Universal Rules?

Universal rules are a set of fixed instructions you give to an AI so it can repeatedly follow the same style, tone, and structure without you having to repeat the same prompts each time.

Use ninth‑grade English (keep language simple and avoid complex vocabulary)

Prefer metaphors over examples (e.g., "like a key" is more vivid than "for example, a key")

Keep sentences short (one idea per sentence, no rambling)

Avoid cliché motivational quotes (remove generic statements like "success requires effort")

Do not use dashes (the original author stresses this)

Why Are They Important?

Universal rules lock in all the skills you have already learned—prompt engineering, aesthetic judgment, personal operating system, and output iteration—so you don’t waste time re‑explaining them for every new conversation. They turn your preferences into the AI’s default behavior.

Three Steps to Build Your Universal Rules

Step 1: Derive Rules from a Successful Interaction

Recall a recent AI‑assisted task that you loved. Copy the entire conversation into a new chat window and ask the AI to analyze it with the following prompt:

"Please analyze the above dialogue and extract a set of universal rules that guide the AI to handle similar tasks, including tone, structure, and key elements. Write the rules in clear, direct language for future reuse."

The AI will identify the opening style you prefer, the data‑driven middle, and the concise ending you dislike, then output a tidy rule list.

Step 2: Save as PDF for Cross‑Platform Use

Copy the generated rule list into a document and export it as a PDF. Major Chinese AI platforms (Doubao, Yuanbao, DeepSeek, Qianwen) all accept PDF uploads, so you can feed the same rule file to any of them without re‑typing.

Step 3: Advanced – Create a Dedicated Assistant

If you frequently use the same AI tool, you can turn the PDF into a custom assistant (sometimes called a "personal bot" or "custom helper"). The setup is straightforward:

Locate the "Create Assistant" entry point, usually in Settings or the sidebar.

Paste the universal rule text into the "Instructions" or "System Prompt" field.

Give the assistant a name, e.g., "Weekly‑Report Helper".

Save the configuration.

Example: My "Weekly‑Report Assistant"

"You are a HR manager with 10 years of experience writing weekly summaries. Style: concise, data‑driven, highlight key points. Structure: 1. Core work (3‑5 bullet points, each with data); 2. Issues & solutions (2 points); 3. Next week plan (3 points, prioritized). Max 500 words, no fluff, short sentences, avoid cliché motivational quotes."

When Friday afternoon arrives, you invoke the assistant with a simple command like "Help me write this week’s summary" and feed it a brief list of what you did. The assistant instantly produces a polished report, turning a half‑hour chore into a five‑minute task.

Conclusion

Universal rules transform personal work habits, aesthetic preferences, and quality standards into a reusable checklist that the AI follows automatically. With the rules in place, the AI no longer needs to guess your intent; it simply executes the predefined script, delivering consistently satisfying results.

Having mastered the five core skills—questioning, aesthetic sense, hand‑off, iteration, and rule‑setting—you are now ahead of most casual users. The next step is to let the AI critique your output, which we will explore in the following article.