How to write prompts for AI

Lionel

October 16, 2023

Main

AI chatbots have transformed the way businesses operate. As digital assistants, they can perform a wide range of tasks, including:

Generating content
Streamlining services and processes
Enhancing customer experiences
Driving growth
Answering questions

To unlock the full potential of AI chatbots, it is essential to understand the art of prompting. Prompting is the process of communicating with AI chatbots in a way that elicits the desired results. Our guide to writing prompts for AI will teach you how to do this effectively.

We are excited to recommend the use of generative AI technology to small businesses. However, we encourage users to be aware that this technology is still in its early stages of development and its effectiveness may vary depending on the circumstances. Additionally, users should avoid entering sensitive information into AI chatbots, as these systems will save their input. Users should also review the output of AI chatbots for accuracy, as it may be incorrect, inaccurate, or outdated.
Disclaimer:

Table of Contents

What are AI prompts?

A prompt is an input, a text command or a question provided to an AI model, with the aim of generating a desired output like content or answer. It is like asking a question or giving the AI a command to get the desired answer or outcome. Prompting is providing a cue to an AI language model, and it’s essential for obtaining high-quality responses from generative AI models like ChatGPT, Google Bard and Bing AI.

5 steps for writing effective AI prompts

Understand the Basic

A chatbot prompt is a message or question that you give to a chatbot to get a response. Prompts are important because they tell the chatbot what you want it to do. The better the prompt, the better the response.

Here are some tips for writing effective prompts:

Be clear and concise.
Be specific about what you want the chatbot to do.
Use natural language.
Provide context for the prompt.

For example, instead of saying “Write a poem,” you could say “Write a poem about a cat.” This gives the chatbot more information to work with, so it can generate a more relevant and interesting response.

You can also use prompts to control the style of the chatbot’s response. For example, if you want a more formal response, you could say “Write a summary of the following article in a formal style: [link to article].”

By following these tips, you can learn to write effective prompts that will help you get the most out of chatbot AI assistants.

Know your chatbot

As a technology expert, I can tell you that when it comes to working with chatbots, it is important to understand the differences between popular systems like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Bing AI. Each system has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and understanding these differences can help you craft more effective prompts and obtain better results.

ChatGPT is known for its ability to generate natural-sounding responses, making it a great option for tasks like customer support or chat-based interactions. It is trained on a massive dataset of human language, allowing it to produce responses that are fluent and contextually relevant. However, it can sometimes struggle with tasks that require a more creative or specific approach.

Google Bard is designed to produce creative and engaging content. It is trained on a large dataset of poetry and prose, allowing it to generate responses that are poetic, humorous, or emotionally evocative. This makes it a great option for tasks like content creation or social media management. However, it can sometimes produce responses that are overly verbose or irrelevant to the task at hand.

Bing AI is designed to produce more concise and specific responses, making it a great option for tasks that require a high degree of accuracy or specificity. It is optimized for tasks like question-answering or fact-checking, and it excels at producing responses that are brief and to the point. However, it can sometimes struggle with tasks that require more complex or nuanced responses.

In addition to understanding the unique strengths and weaknesses of each system, it is also important to be aware of their specific syntax and instructions. For example, ChatGPT may require you to provide a specific context or topic in your prompt, while Google Bard may require more creative or conversational prompts. Understanding the specific requirements of each chatbot can help you craft more effective prompts and obtain better results.

Finally, it is important to remember that any chatbot or model can produce inaccurate or unintended results. It is always important to check your work carefully.

By following these tips, you can improve your outcomes and achieve your goals with greater speed and efficiency when working with chatbots.

Craft effective prompts

I can confirm that crafting effective prompts is essential for obtaining high-quality results from chatbots like ChatGPT, Google Bard, and Bing AI. Here are some tips and strategies to help you create better prompts:

Use natural language and coherent questions. Treat the chatbot as if you’re conversating with an intelligent human. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that the chatbot may not understand.
Be clear and specific. State your request in a concise and unambiguous way. Provide as much context as possible to help the chatbot understand the purpose of your prompt.
Use context and set the stage. Provide the chatbot with any relevant information that may help it generate a more accurate and relevant response. For example, if you’re asking the chatbot to write a poem, you might want to specify the topic or mood of the poem.
Personalize your prompts. Include your name, product, company name, background information, topic, highlights, tone, format, and length in your prompt. This will help the chatbot generate a more tailored response.
Define the role and expertise. Tell the chatbot what role or expertise you would like it to assume. For example, you might want the chatbot to act as a copywriter, marketer, developer, coach, professor, or HR representative.
Set the style and tone. Choose a style and tone for your prompt that is appropriate for the task at hand. For example, if you’re asking the chatbot to write a professional email, you would want to use a formal style and tone.
Experiment with question phrasing. Try rephrasing your questions and testing multiple variations to see which one generates the best results.
Provide examples. If possible, provide the chatbot with examples of the type of output you’re looking for. This can help the chatbot to better understand your expectations.

Here is an example of a poorly written prompt:

Tell me about marketing.

This prompt is too broad and vague. It doesn’t provide the chatbot with any specific information about what you’re interested in learning about marketing.

Here is an example of a strong prompt:

Act as a master marketer, and in a professional tone, explain three essential digital marketing strategies that a small business should implement to increase their online visibility and drive sales. Please write a 200-word explanation with 3 bullet points following.

This prompt is clear, specific, and provides the chatbot with all the information it needs to generate a high-quality response. It also specifies the desired style, tone, and format of the output.

By following these tips, you can learn to craft effective prompts that will help you get the most out of chatbots.

Prompt template:

Role: Specify the role you want the chatbot to assume, such as a business strategist, educator, or marketing expert.
Objective: Indicate the intent of the content to be generated, e.g., blog article, social media update, product overview, FAQ, or ask a question.
Details: Include relevant information like the business, brand, or product name.
Background: Offer a concise background of the business or brand, highlighting its primary product or service offerings, target customers, and unique selling propositions.
Content subject: Define the central topic or theme of the content to be generated.
Context and objectives: Supply context, particular goals for the role, and company details to help the chatbot grasp your expectations, e.g., “As a specialist in ecommerce and collaborating with ‘Business Y’, a top online marketplace, offer advice for enhancing the user experience of their website.”
Writing style: Indicate the preferred style for the content, e.g., formal, casual, convincing, educational, etc.
Structure: Mention any specific format or organization, e.g., bullet points, paragraphs, Q&A, etc.
Supplementary details: Incorporate any other pertinent information or context that may support The chatbot in producing the content, such as particular examples or directions.
Voice: Indicate if you’d like it to be in a certain style like Shakespeare.

Pro tip: After creating your text, run the prompt: Act as a plagiarism checker and analyze this text for potential plagiarism, then suggest rewrites or modifications to ensure originality, and retain similar format, tone and length: [paste generated text]. Once the text is output, re-read and revise it to ensure that it speaks to your needs.

Improve your AI prompts

One of the tools I’ve been using more and more lately is chatbots. Chatbots can be a great way to get information, complete tasks, and even generate creative content. But the key to getting the most out of chatbots is knowing how to write effective prompts.

Here are a few tips:

Break down complex prompts into smaller, more specific prompts. This will help the chatbot understand what you’re asking for and give you a more accurate response.
Identify the main ideas of your prompt. Once you know the main ideas, you can break down the prompt into simpler questions.
Use natural language and avoid jargon. The chatbot should be able to understand your prompt without you having to use any special language.
Be specific in your requests. The more specific you are, the better the chatbot will be able to meet your needs.
Provide context for your prompt. The more context the chatbot has, the better it will be able to understand what you’re asking for.

Here’s an example of how to use these tips to write an effective prompt:

Complex prompt: How can I improve customer service at my online store?

Broken-down prompts:

What are the most important aspects of customer service?
What are some common customer complaints?
What are some ways to improve customer response times?
How can I measure customer satisfaction?

Natural language prompt: What are some ways to improve customer service for my online store?

You can then ask the chatbot each of these questions one by one, using the answers to build a comprehensive response.

By following these tips, you can learn to write effective prompts that will help you get the most out of chatbots.

Prompt chain:

What are the common pain points customers face when shopping online?
[allow to answer, then type in the next]
What tools or processes can be implemented to address these pain points?
[allow to answer, then type in the next]
How can the store proactively communicate with customers to improve their shopping experience?
Pro tip: One way to achieve longer text is a simple prompt chain. After text is generated, type in “tell me more…”
Here are some further prompt descriptions that can enhance the chatbot’s output:
Linguistic and cultural context: Indicate the language and cultural background related to the discussion or subject, assisting the chatbot in producing more precise and pertinent responses.
Emotion and sentiment: Point out the desired emotional tone or sentiment you want to express in your conversation or subject, such as joy, sorrow, frustration, or astonishment.
Imagery and sensory details: Offer visual or sensory details to aid the chatbot in creating more vivid and captivating responses, like describing a setting or an item.
Actionable steps: Incorporate a call to action in your prompt, prompting the chatbot to create responses that inspire or convince the reader to act.
Brand character and identity: Determine the brand character and identity you wish to portray in your conversation or subject, like approachable, authoritative, or lighthearted.
Sector or niche-specific terminology: Supply sector or niche-specific terminology, helping the chatbot to produce responses customized for a particular audience or subject.
Historical or cultural allusions: Add historical or cultural allusions to assist the chatbot in creating responses that are both pertinent and informative.
Humor or amusement factor: Specify if you’d like the chatbot to produce responses with a humorous or entertaining aspect to engage readers.

Intermediate prompt writing tip

Use this prompt to quickly and effectively “tune” your prompts. Copy and paste or type this before starting a chat:

I’d like you to act as my prompt assistant. Your mission is to help me create the most effective prompt for my requirements, which will be used by you, The chatbot. To achieve this, we’ll follow these steps:

Your initial response should be to inquire about the topic of the prompt. I’ll provide my input, and we’ll refine it through subsequent iterations by going through the following steps.
Based on my input, you’ll produce 3 sections: a) refined prompt (supply an improved version of the prompt that is clear, concise, and easy for you to understand), b) recommendations (suggest what details could be added to the prompt for improvement), and c) inquiries (ask relevant questions related to any extra information needed from me to enhance the prompt).
We’ll continue this iterative process, with me giving more information and you updating the Refined Prompt section until it’s perfect.

Keep refining until you’re satisfied, then simply copy and paste the improved prompt into a new chat. Witness the transformation!

Practice advanced prompt engineering

From here, you can further level up your prompt writing skills with these more-advanced tips:

System message prompts: Use system messages to set context and guide chatbots for more accurate answers.
Set the context: Describe the conversation’s purpose, background information and main goal.

Example: [System message] You are an AI assistant helping a business owner improve their online presence to drive sales.

Guide the chatbot: Remind the chatbot of its purpose when dealing with complex questions.

Example: [System message] Remember, we’re focusing on strategies for businesses to enhance their online presence and drive sales.

Temperature parameters: Adjust the temperature to control the type of answers chatbots give.
- For focused answers: Set a low temperature (e.g., 0.2-0.5) when you need specific information or a direct answer.
  - Example: What are the top 3 strategies for businesses to improve their online presence?
- For creative answers: Set a high temperature (e.g., 0.8-1.0) when looking for brainstorming ideas or multiple solutions.

Troubleshooting common issues

Common issues when using chatbots include receiving irrelevant, incomplete, or overly verbose responses. To improve response quality:

Reframe your question: Make it more specific or rephrase it to avoid ambiguity. Example: Instead of “How to increase sales?”, ask “What are effective strategies for a small business to increase sales online?”
Break down complex queries: Divide your question into smaller, simpler parts to get more focused answers.