Terms Governing Prompt Polishing Spiral
Refining an AI prompt past the point where the original task would have been completed has become a recognized work pattern.
These terms govern the use of AI writing assistance in professional contexts where the time spent refining the prompt has exceeded the time the original task would have required by manual completion.
By continuing to refine the prompt, the user accepts the following conditions.
The prompt polishing spiral is defined as the iterative process of adjusting, expanding, reframing, and re-submitting a prompt to an AI tool in pursuit of output that matches an internal standard the user has not yet articulated to themselves. The spiral is not a malfunction. It is the discovery process for what the user actually wants, conducted at higher speed and lower social visibility than the alternative.
Prompt polishing spiral adds one private manual check. This check occurs after the AI output is accepted and before the output is submitted or shared. The check is a review against the user's own standard, conducted to verify that the AI output is indistinguishable from the output the user would have produced without assistance. The check takes time. The time is not logged. The assistance is not disclosed.
That check becomes part of the normal workflow. The second condition. A workflow that includes AI assistance plus a private quality review is now the standard operating procedure for an increasing share of knowledge work. The workflow was not announced to the organization. It propagated individually.
Under the governing rule, prompt polishing spiral becomes procedure once repetition feels safer than reconsidering it. The help is useful enough to use and awkward enough to disguise. These two conditions are sufficient to produce indefinite continuation.
Assisted work becomes routine while disclosure stays exceptional, which is a separate kind of overhead. The terms do not require disclosure. The terms observe that the absence of disclosure requires maintenance.
These terms are non-negotiable and effective upon first use.