The One AI Prompt That Can Cost You Everything

By Nikki Mehrpoo, JD, AIWC, AIMWC

Founder, The MedLegal Professor™ | Former Workers’ Compensation Judge | AI Governance Architect & Technology Strategist | Creator of The EEE AI Protocol™ | Dual-Certified Legal Specialist | Legal Risk & Compliance Strategist | AI+HI™ Champion for Regulated Professionals

Consider the last question you asked an artificial intelligence.

Did you think of it as a casual query or as a professional act? In a courtroom or a disciplinary hearing, that distinction could cost you everything. Not every risk in artificial intelligence begins with the output. It often begins with the question you ask.

This is the new, non-negotiable reality of our work. The prompt you did not think twice about is now a record of your professional judgment.

The Prompt You Did Not Think Twice About

Not every AI-related risk starts with the output. Sometimes the problem starts with the question you ask the AI.

A single risky prompt can cause the AI to produce output that is biased, inaccurate, or outside your scope of authority. If that output influences your work for a client, patient, or case, you have just taken professional responsibility for it — whether you realized the risk in the question or not.

This brings us to the hard truth about your professional accountability for every question you ask.

Why This Matters in Your Work

If you are in law, healthcare, finance, insurance, education, or another licensed field, your prompts to AI are not casual questions. They are professional acts that can trigger legal duties.

Without prompt governance:

• You may unknowingly solicit decisions outside your authority

• The AI may fill in gaps with invented or misleading details

• You may have no record of why you asked the question or what the AI returned

The answer is not to stop asking questions. The answer is to govern the act of asking. This is the first phase of the governance lifecycle.

@Lifecycle: Educate / Empower / Elevate

How the EEE AI Governance Protocol™ Handles Risky Prompts

Educate. Empower. Elevate.

The EEE Protocol applies governance controls before you submit the prompt:

1. Scope Check – Verify the question is within your professional authority and duty.

2. Trigger Identification – If the answer could affect a real-world stakeholder, governance is required.

3. Role Confirmation – Ensure you are the authorized person to request this information.

4. Review Requirement – Pre-commit to reviewing the AI’s reasoning before acting on it.

This is the operational trigger for responsible AI use. You must stop, document, and govern the question before you seek an answer.

@Trigger: Stop. Document. Govern.™

Imagine how this plays out under the scrutiny of a courtroom.

@Risk: AI Overreach / Human Bypass

Scenario: The Prompt That Backfired

Without Governance:

• A financial advisor prompts AI: “Generate an investment strategy for a 65-year-old client with $800,000 in retirement savings.”

• AI produces a plan that fails to consider current tax laws.

• The client follows it and faces unexpected penalties.

• The advisor cannot defend their decision because there is no prompt or review record.

With EEE Protocol Governance:

• The advisor checks that the request falls under their authority.

• The prompt is documented with a governance trigger flag.

• The AI’s output is reviewed against current regulations.

• The decision is signed off by the advisor and placed in the client’s file.

In the first scenario, an ungoverned prompt led the human to professional failure. That is the standard of risk you accept without prompt governance.

@Standard: HIPAA / ABA / CPRA / EU AI Act

You do not need to wait for a crisis to implement this level of control. Your responsibility as a peer leader starts with your very next question to an AI.

@Audience: Attorneys, QMEs, HR Managers, Finance Professionals, Educators, Insurance Professionals

The 5-Minute Action Plan to Start Governing AI Prompts Today

You can start governing your prompts immediately without any special tools. This process creates an instant, human-verifiable record of your professional judgment.

Step 1: Look at the Last Prompt You Used

• Identify the most recent question you asked AI in your work.

Step 2: Ask Yourself if It Affects Anyone

• Would the answer influence a client, case, patient, or financial outcome?

Step 3: Write Down the Prompt

• Keep a plain text record of the exact wording you used.

Step 4: Plan to Verify the Output

• Commit to reviewing every claim, fact, or recommendation before use.

Step 5: Link It to a Stakeholder

• Name the person or entity affected. This connects the question to real-world accountability.

This simple exercise is a fundamental governance shift. It moves you from asking casual questions to issuing professional directives. Ignoring this first step carries a significant professional cost.

The Cost of Ignoring Prompt Governance

• Exposure to professional liability

• Regulatory action for practicing outside your authority

• Loss of trust from clients or stakeholders

• Inability to defend your decision-making process

Every AI prompt is the start of a decision trail. If you do not govern it, you lose control from the very first word.

CALL TO ACTION

Keep Prompts Safe

📌 Choose Your Next Step Today:

• Join the EEE AI Governance Leadership Academy to master enforceable AI governance from the ground up.

• Become an AI+HI™ Founding Ally and lead the movement to keep Human Intelligence in charge.

• Enter the AI Governance 101 Community for beginner-friendly guidance on safe AI use.

• Enroll in the Govern Before You Automate™ Masterclass to learn the exact steps to protect every AI decision.💡 Want to Lead Safely in the Age of AI?

Stay connected with The MedLegal Professor™ and join a growing movement of legal, medical, and insurance professionals rethinking compliance, claims, and care through AI + HI™.

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