As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to gain popularity, it is essential for each of us to develop skills in prompt literacy. To effectively utilize AI models, you should have the ability to write specific and detailed prompts. By building and refining these skills, you can effectively integrate AI into your work and education.
“
What are prompts?
Prompting is used to instruct an AI to do a task. The better prompts (ask questions and inputs) you use with generative AI, like ChatGPT, XIPUAI, the more relevant and meaningful responses (outputs) you’ll receive! But it’s very important to keep in mind that AI-generated content can be inaccurate, misleading, or entirely fabricated, so be sure to carefully review any work containing AI content before you use it.
Tips for Writing Effective Prompts for Text-Based Generative AI Tools
01
Providing Context and Be Specific
AI is a machine. It is not capable of reading our minds. Give it as much context as possible so that it understands the conditions under which we want to obtain our answers. Be specific about the instruction and task you want the AI to perform. The more descriptive and detailed the prompt is, the better the results.
02
Role Playing
Asking the AI to behave as if it is a type of person, process, or object can be an easy way to start generating better prompts. The AI will attempt to emulate that role and answer accordingly. Example: Act as an expert Academic Librarian… Act as a high school Math teacher…
03
Consider Audience and Style
Give the AI specifics about who your audience is and what sort of tone you’d like to set, it will be appropriate for the reader’s knowledge level. Indicate the preferred style for the content, e.g., formal, casual, educational, etc.
04
Format the Result
Generative AI can produce many different types of outputs, including code, reports, summaries, a numbered list, a table with content, markdown format, etc. Being specific about the format of output you want will produce better results. After describing what you want, try adding examples: Present this in the form of Markdown style; Create a table that contains the above topic.
05
Limit the Length
Limit the length of your output results, indicate to the AI how many results you want to have. Example: Please provide me a list of 10 topics; Please write within 300 words.
06
Build on Previous Prompts
It will remember what you’ve said in the conversation, so you don’t have to repeat everything again. You can try starting with a basic question and adding to it over time. Add more context and specificity to guide the AI toward the output you’re looking for.
07
Use Examples
Using an example of a sentence or paragraph that you’d like your output to resemble can give the AI a reference point to help improve results. This can help you get a better sense of what works and what doesn’t, and can provide inspiration for your own prompts.
08
Include the Keywords
To help the AI generate more relevant ideas, it can be helpful to include specific keywords in your prompts. For example, if you are writing about computers, you might include keywords such as “CPU,” “Memory,” or “Graphics card.”
Prompts in Practice:
Want to know more about prompts and AI applications? Come and participate in the Library AI Idea Exchange Camp for the next session, let’s explore together the potentiality of AI in empowering both learning and work.