The fastest way to make a world generic is to accept the first answer to every question. A better use of AI is to make it ask sharper questions, leaving you room to decide what deserves to become true.
Use an Interview, Not a Generator
Give the AI one approved fact, then ask it to interview you about the consequences. For example: “The city records every public promise. Ask ten questions that reveal how this rule affects romance, work, crime and political power. Do not invent answers.”
This creates a productive conversation. You may answer only two questions today, leave five open, and reject three as irrelevant. The world grows from your choices rather than from a bulk upload of generated lore.
Ask at Three Scales
Strong questions move between scales:
- Personal: what does a single person fear, desire or hide because of this rule?
- Social: which groups gain status, access or vulnerability?
- Historical: what past conflict or compromise made the rule normal?
The scales keep world-building connected. A law is not only a paragraph in a setting guide; it becomes a source of character pressure and a clue to historical change.
Save Questions as Carefully as Answers
An unanswered question can be valuable story material. Store it with a status such as open, deferred or resolved. When a later plot needs depth, revisit the question instead of inventing a disconnected detail.
This question-first method is a natural companion to a context packet . The packet gives the interviewer a truthful starting point; your answers turn its questions into canon.