“Ask and ye shall receive.” The biblical quote is also applicable to AI chatbots that respond to all user queries (unless you ask something illegal or inappropriate) with dedication and delight. However, it is not very easy to get the right information in the right format out of a chatbot like ChatGPT or Gemini, and often our prompts result in bland and generic responses. But this is not the AI’s fault. To bring out responses with nuance and deeper insight, you will need to learn how to write an effective prompt and know about a skill known as prompt engineering.
What Is Prompt Engineering?
Prompt engineering is the method of writing and designing prompts in a way that results in specific and desirable responses. A good prompt engineer understands how large language models (LLMs) interpret natural language and then designs prompts to suit the task at hand. As AI models get more advanced and prevalent across the digital ecosystem, becoming more intentional with the prompts will become a necessary skill.
How to Write Effective AI Prompts for ChatGPT?
AI is only as good as the instructions it receives. Poor prompts lead to generic, inaccurate, or irrelevant outputs that need further editing. Better prompts help you save time, reduce back-and-forth. Whether you’re writing emails, analysing data, or brainstorming ideas, these tips will help you get the best responses out of ChatGPT and other chatbots.
Always Make Your Requests Specific
According to Harvard University, generic prompts result in generic responses. To avoid this, be specific when you write a prompt. Make sure to write full sentences and tell exactly what you need from ChatGPT. You can also use bullet points to ensure the chatbot understands each point separately. Here’s an example:
Instead of using this prompt: Tell me about electric cars.
Use this prompt: Give me a 5-point list comparing electric cars and petrol cars in terms of cost, performance, and environmental impact.
Set a Role or Perspective for the AI
When you require a deeper analysis or the output for a specific use case, such as a school essay, set a role for the AI. This will help ChatGPT adopt the right tone and provide the response in the desired style.
Instead of using this prompt: Write a summary of this financial report.
Use this prompt: Act as a financial analyst and write a plain-English summary of this quarterly earnings report for a non-technical audience.
Add Context or Background Information
Another way of getting nuance and deeper insight from the responses is to add some context to your prompt and provide any additional information that could be relevant.
Instead of using this prompt: Write a cover letter.
Use this prompt: Write a 150-word cover letter for a graphic designer with 4 years of experience applying to a remote role at a startup focused on sustainable fashion.
Structure Your Prompts
Good formatting is one of the essential requirements when requiring specific information in a specific format. ChatGPT follows the instruction, so if the instruction does not include the structure for its response, it will revert to its default style.
Instead of using this prompt: Help me explain climate change to kids.
Use this prompt: Explain climate change to 10-year-olds using a short story with 3 characters and fewer than 150 words.
Pro tip: If you’re a coder and are familiar with JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), try and write your prompts in JSON format. You will always get responses in the same format, with the specific information that was requested.
Do Not Rely on Zero-Shot Prompts
Zero-shot prompts, or prompts that aim to get desired results with a single attempt, work very occasionally. A much better way of getting the responses you want is to tell ChatGPT what you want, and then provide subsequent prompts to fix issues. If any problem remains, fix it in the next prompt. However, one must remember to provide correct feedback so that the chatbot can take action on that.
Instead of using this follow-up prompt: Make this blog post better.
Use this prompt: Revise the introduction to make it more engaging. Keep the tone friendly and include an interesting fact about the topic. Add the source of the fact, if any.
