Good Prompts

How Do I Write Good AI Prompts? Don’t Use AI like Google!

In order to get the most out of AI tools, you need to ask good questions. As only superficial questions gives very general and perhaps inaccurate information. It is important to use these tips to get the most out of your conversations with generative AI tools. A good AI prompt includes three components:

To get even more out of your conversations with generative AI tools, try these more advanced options as well. 

1. Be very specific in what you are asking the system. The more general the question, the more general and usually unhelpful the response will be. You need to ask good questions in order to get responses that are useful. 

2. Ask questions in complete sentences. Unlike a Google search, you should not be typing only keywords. Generative AI models are built to have a conversation, so ask questions as if you were talking to a person, not a computer. 

3. Provide context around the question you are asking. The AI does not have any context or background information to what you are asking about. You must provide any specific information you want to be included, a description of who your audience is, and who the AI should be writing in the style of, as well as the ideal format you want the output to be like. For example, you may suggest the output is written in formal tone, informal tone, or in academic language, etc. depending on what you are looking for from the tool. 

4. Ask the AI to respond in a specific role. You can tell the AI to respond like a journalist, or project manager, or a beginner learning a new topic. Giving the AI a role to impersonate in its responses can help increase the likelihood the responses are useful to you. 

5. Continue to refine your results. Remember, that the AI will remember everything that you’ve told it within the given conversation. So that means if the first response you get is not quite what you were looking for, keep asking questions or giving more detailed instructions about how you want the output to look. The more time you spend in a conversation, the better you will be able to receive helpful information. 

6. Understand the boundaries of the AI tool you are using. Depending on the tool you are using, the system may not have access to recent news or articles posted on the web. ChatGPT 3.5 for example only has access to data from 2021 and prior. Check the limitations of each tool to fully understand these before starting your conversations. 

7. Give the AI text to work with. Don’t be afraid to copy and paste some piece of text for the system to work with. For example, enter a portion of a research article or a textbook and ask the system to summarize the text for you in common language. This is a great way to get another perspective on a piece of text, especially one that may be more complicated. Perhaps the system can help you understand that content in a different way. 

8. Ask the same prompt again. You can ask the AI tool the same prompt again and again and it will provide a new answer each time. You can then generate three or four examples of responses and take what you like best from each one to make a really great resource with your own contributions as well. 

Additional Resources

Please explore the additional resources listed below to help create the best AI prompts.

• A useful article on what prompts are and how to craft them effectively: https://www.arimetrics.com/en/digital-glossary/prompt 

• ChatGPT Guide: Use these prompt strategies to maximize your results: https://the-decoder.com/chatgpt-guide-prompt-strategies/ 

• How to write an effective GPT-3 or GPT-4 prompt: https://zapier.com/blog/gpt-prompt/

• Best Tips on how to use Chat GPT effectively: https://www.technologyforyou.org/best-tips-on-how-to-use-chat-gpt-effectively/