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Streamlining Your Workflow with AI Chatbot: Best ChatGPT Practices and Strategies

Edward Tsang
12 min readMay 7, 2023

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(Updated 2024/10/17) Since early 2023, ChatGPT has been a hot topic in the tech world. There is still much discussion on how AI will affect the employment market and possibly society as we know it. But let’s leave these larger issues aside and concentrate on how to best use the new tool.

If you’ve been using ChatGPT to ask simple inquiries and are already impressed by the quality of the responses. It’s time to learn more about how to get the most out of ChatGPT. Let’s just get started. A compilation of tips and tactics, as well as some sample prompts. (When I refer to ChatGPT, I also mean various AI chat-like language models.)

The 20 most common prompt formats

Let’s start by knowing the most common ways to use ChatGPT. What is a prompt? A prompt is a piece of text that a user enters in order to initiate a conversation or request information from the model. It can be a question, a statement, or a topic that the user wants to discuss. Once the prompt is entered, ChatGPT uses its natural language processing capabilities to generate a response that is relevant and coherent based on the context of the prompt. The quality of the response depends on the complexity and specificity of the prompt, as well as the training and experience of the model.

1. Question-and-Answer

  • Prompt: What is the capital of Australia?
  • Response: Canberra

2. Fill-in-the-Blank

  • Prompt: The _____ is the largest planet in our solar system.
  • Response: Jupiter

3. Sentence Completion

  • Prompt: The rainforest was full of exotic plants and animals, including _____.
  • Response: monkeys, parrots, and jaguars

4. Text Expansion

  • Prompt: Write a paragraph about your favorite hobby.
  • Response: I love playing soccer in my free time. It’s a great way to stay active and socialize with friends. I’ve been playing since I was a kid and it’s always been a passion of mine.

5. Translation

  • Prompt: Translate the sentence “Bonjour, comment ça va?” into English.
  • Response: “Hello, how are you?”

6. Topic Expansion

  • Prompt: Write a blog post about the benefits of mindfulness meditation.
  • Response: Mindfulness meditation has many benefits, including reduced stress and anxiety, improved focus and concentration, and better overall well-being.

7. Sentiment Analysis

  • Prompt: Is the following sentence positive, negative, or neutral? “I really enjoyed the movie.”
  • Response: Positive

8. Text Summarization

  • Prompt: Summarize the following article in one paragraph.
  • Response: The article discusses the benefits of exercise for overall health and well-being. It highlights the importance of regular physical activity and provides tips on how to get started with an exercise routine.

9. Dialogue Generation

  • Prompt: Write a conversation between two friends planning a road trip.
  • Response: Friend 1: “I was thinking we could drive up the coast and stop at some of the beaches along the way.” Friend 2: “That sounds like a great idea! How long do you think the trip will take?”

10. Text Correction

  • Prompt: Correct the following sentence: “Their going to the beach tomorrow.”
  • Response: “They’re going to the beach tomorrow.”

11. Image Captioning

  • Prompt: Write a caption for the following image.
  • Response: “A group of friends hiking in the mountains on a sunny day.”

12. Named Entity Recognition

  • Prompt: Identify the named entity in the following sentence: “I saw the movie Star Wars last night.”
  • Response: Star Wars

13. Multiple Choice Questions

  • Prompt: Which of the following is a type of fruit? a) Carrot b) Tomato c) Banana
  • Response: Banana

14. Essay Writing

  • Prompt: Write an essay on the importance of education.
  • Response: Education is crucial for personal and societal development. It provides individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in life, and helps to build strong and prosperous communities.

15. Paraphrasing

  • Prompt: Paraphrase the following sentence: “The cat sat on the mat.”
  • Response: “The feline rested on the floor covering.”

16. Poetry Generation

  • Prompt: Write a haiku about the changing seasons.
  • Response: Leaves fall gently down, As the trees shed their colors, Autumn is here now.

17. Recipe Generation

  • Prompt: Write a recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
  • Response: In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture, stirring until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10–12 minutes.

18. Story Generation

  • Prompt: Write a short story about a lost puppy.
  • Response: One day, a little puppy wandered away from its home and got lost. It roamed the streets for hours, feeling scared and alone. Just as it was getting dark, a kind stranger spotted the puppy and took it in. The puppy was overjoyed to be safe and warm again, and the stranger helped it find its way back home.

19. Resume Writing

  • Prompt: Write a resume for a software engineer.
  • Response: Objective: To obtain a position as a software engineer where I can utilize my skills and experience to develop innovative software solutions. Education: Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, XYZ University. Experience: Software Engineer, ABC Company (2018-present). Skills: Java, Python, C++, Agile methodology.

20. Technical Writing

  • Prompt: Write a user manual for a new software program.
  • Response: The user manual provides step-by-step instructions for installing and using the software program. It includes information on system requirements, installation procedures, and troubleshooting tips.

General tips on using ChatGPT or similar AI chatbots:

  • Be explicit in your questions: The more specific your query, the better ChatGPT will be able to provide you with an appropriate answer.
  • Avoid using jargon or slang: ChatGPT is designed to interpret natural English, but using too much jargon or slang can make it harder to understand your query.
  • Provide context: If your query is about a specific topic or circumstance, give ChatGPT the information it needs to understand what you’re asking.
  • Be patient: ChatGPT is a powerful tool, but responses may take some time to generate. Allow it time to process your inquiry before anticipating an answer.
  • Ask clarifying or expanding questions: If ChatGPT’s response does not fully explain your question, ask clarifying or expanding inquiries.
  • Use good grammar and spelling: ChatGPT will comprehend your inquiries better if they are written in proper grammar and spelling.
  • Experiment with different prompts: Depending on the prompts you supply, ChatGPT can generate a wide range of responses. Experiment with various phrasings to see what kind of reactions you get.
  • Consider the information source: ChatGPT generates responses based on the data on which it has been trained, which may or may not be accurate or dependable. When analyzing the information supplied by ChatGPT, use your own discretion.
  • Keep your questions relevant: ChatGPT’s responses are intended to be helpful and educational. Asking inappropriate or disrespectful questions should be avoided.
  • If your chat response stopped early, you can just asked ChatGPT to “please continue”, and it should resume the previous answer.
  • Have some fun! ChatGPT can be a fun and interesting way to learn about a variety of topics. Have fun with it and learn from its replies.

Other general tips and tricks

  • You probably don’t need to know how the maths behind AI works, but it is a good idea to know that current “generation” (or buzz) of AI is mainly based on Large Language Models. And as the name suggests, it is just a large model about language. About words and sentences, etc. Statistically working out what’s the most likely word patterns will be the matching “answer” to your input. At this stage, the AI doesn’t have the actual “meaning” or “logic” of the words, but it can work out the patterns from the zillions of word combinations it has been trained on. Not saying that it can’t give correct answers, but it is done by the most likely word combinations that it has seen before. Knowing this, you will avoid using it solely for anything factual, but use it to help with creative expressions. Read this paper from Apple, or article from MIT.
  • Like most behavioural changes, it is easy to understand the needs and wants to do it. But ultimately it is about action. You have to force yourself to use these tools regularly. Set yourself some goals. That you have to use it at least once a day. Or make it your home page and try to use it instead of Google search. It took you a decade to get used to the search paradigm, it will take you some time to get out of it.
  • Reminder: Don’t chat to any of these chatbots about anything commercially sensitive, or anything that you won’t have previously asked (searched with) Google. You already know that Google kept your search history and use them for marketing, expect the same (or even deeper analysed) by these chatbots. Chatbot is not your friend, certainly not your best buddy.
  • Know the limitations and quirks of these chatbots. They usually highlight the date which it’s data is updated to, ChatGPT 4o is up to April 2023. So if you chat about any topics after 2023, you can expect the chatbot to make things up. (Generally, ignore all articles similar to “I asked ChatGPT about bitcoin price in the next few months”, it wasn’t trained with these numbers specifically.)
  • ChatGPT is just one of the many AI services out there. It is the hottest one for sure, that’s why we started the article with ChatGPT tips, but there are different tools out there to play with.
  • Try Poe.com, which I find is better than using ChatGPT from OpenAI directly. There are many more chat models you can use with Poe. Try them and compare results. Also, if you are considering paying for ChatGPT Plus, you might want to consider spending the same money on Poe to get access to more models.
  • Use Bing Chat with Microsoft Edge browser and SwiftKey. Microsoft is pushing ahead to use GPT into a wide range of products. Waiting for them to fully integrate these into Office suite.
  • You might be lucky to get some free credits in your OpenAI API key to try out other ways to use ChatGPT. Like integrating it with Siri on your iPhone. I will write more about this later, for now, take a look at this https://github.com/Yue-Yang/ChatGPT-Siri
  • Do your own fact checking. ChatGPT is actually not 100% correct with facts and figures. But will be able to describe or flow with wrong info very well. It was “designed” to just chat well, it was all about text generation to “fool” other AI reader systems. That’s the basic idea of GAN, one bot to generate, the other to “test”. Or use Bing Chat, because it will show you the reference articles.
  • Chatbots can be manipultated to say silly things. You can usually get it to support contrasting or just opposing views. So your own knowledge and views are important. It can help you a lot in writing long-winded text. But that’s kind of what reading is about too, many of the words are for guidance of your imaginations rather than hard facts.
  • Text generation is only “the beginning”, in fact, that is one of the simpler type of AIGC out there. There are already great services like MidJourney and other music/audio generation tools. Should try them out too. (I will add a section on how to use MJ soon, stay tuned.)

Here are some prompts to try out:

  1. “Tell me a story about a time traveler who goes back to the Middle Ages.”
  2. “What are some tips for learning a new language quickly?”
  3. “What would be the best way to terraform Mars and make it habitable for humans?”
  4. “What are some popular conspiracy theories that have been proven true?”
  5. “What are some ways to overcome procrastination and increase productivity?”
  6. “What are some of the most interesting unsolved mysteries in history?”
  7. “What are some tips for starting a successful business?”
  8. “What would happen if humans could live forever?”
  9. “What are some strategies for coping with anxiety and stress?”
  10. “What are some of the most important scientific discoveries of the past decade?”

A few advanced prompts:

  1. “How would you design an AI system that is capable of generating realistic and believable human-like conversation?”
  2. “What are some of the ethical considerations that need to be taken into account when developing autonomous weapons?”
  3. “What are some of the challenges facing the development of quantum computers, and how might they be overcome?”
  4. “What are some of the most promising approaches to achieving artificial general intelligence, and what are the main obstacles to their success?”
  5. “How might advances in genetic engineering and synthetic biology impact the future of humanity?”
  6. “What are the main ethical and social implications of brain-computer interfaces, and how might they be addressed?”
  7. “How might blockchain technology be used to revolutionize industries beyond finance, such as healthcare or real estate?”
  8. “What would be the most effective strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change, and how might they be implemented at a global scale?”
  9. “What are some of the most promising approaches to achieving sustainable fusion power, and when might they become a viable source of energy?”
  10. “What would be the consequences of discovering definitive evidence of extraterrestrial life, and how might society respond?”

You can also ask ChatGPT to write from other perspectives.

  1. “Write a news article about a major event from the perspective of a sports commentator.”
  2. “Create a short story from the point of view of a detective investigating a crime scene.”
  3. “Write a product review as if you were a fashion blogger.”
  4. “Compose a love letter as if you were a poet from the Romantic era.”
  5. “Write a scientific research paper as if you were a historian analyzing a major cultural artifact.”
  6. “Create a restaurant review as if you were a food critic with a refined palate.”
  7. “Write a blog post as if you were a travel writer exploring a foreign city for the first time.”
  8. “Compose a sales pitch as if you were a door-to-door salesperson.”
  9. “Write a movie script as if you were a screenwriter for a classic Hollywood studio.”
  10. “Create a political speech as if you were running for office in a dystopian future.”

Understand that ChatGPT can remember the context of your chat, it is not just a single question engine, you can follow up with prompts like these:

  1. Can you tell me more about that?
  2. What do you think about [related topic]?
  3. How does that make you feel?
  4. Can you explain that in more detail?
  5. What are some other examples of [related topic]?
  6. How do you think [related topic] relates to [previous topic]?
  7. Have you experienced something similar before?
  8. Can you provide more context about [related topic]?
  9. How do you think [related topic] could be improved?
  10. What are some potential solutions to [related problem]?

Other prompts to get more specific answers, or even limit it to true/false for futher automation by scripts:

  1. “Can you provide a [adjective] [noun] about [topic]?”
    Example: “Can you provide a concise summary about artificial intelligence?”
  2. “Can you give me [number] examples of [topic]?”
    Example: “Can you give me three examples of renewable energy sources?”
  3. “Can you provide a [adjective] definition of [term]?”
    Example: “Can you provide a simple definition of blockchain technology?”
  4. “Can you give me a [adjective] answer to [question]?”
    Example: “Can you give me a straightforward answer to the question, what is the capital of France?”
  5. “Can you provide a [adjective] comparison between [topic A] and [topic B]?”
    Example: “Can you provide a brief comparison between Windows and macOS operating systems?”
  6. True or False: [statement]?
    Example: “True or false: Dolphins are fish?”
  7. Which of the following [options] is/are true about [topic]?
    Example: “Which of the following options is/are true about the structure of an atom: a) Protons are positively charged b) Electrons are negatively charged c) Neutrons have a positive charge”
  8. Which of the following [options] is/are not true about [topic]?
    Example: “Which of the following options is/are not true about the water cycle: a) Water evaporates from lakes and oceans b) Water droplets form clouds c) Water doesn’t return to the ground as precipitation”
  9. Which of the following [options] correctly describes [topic]?
    Example: “Which of the following options correctly describes the process of photosynthesis: a) Plants use carbon dioxide and water to produce oxygen and glucose b) Plants use oxygen and glucose to produce carbon dioxide and water c) Plants use nitrogen and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water”
  10. Complete the following [statement] with the correct [option]:
    Example: “Complete the following statement with the correct option: The Earth is approximately [option] years old. a) 4.5 billion b) 450 million c) 45 thousand”

Reference (Just a list of sites/articles I find useful)

Useful Sites

  • Poe — I use this more often than OpenAI’s version of ChatGPT. It gives you access to a few more models in one interface. Rather than paying 20 bucks to OpenAI and only get ChatGPT, you pay 20 bucks to Poe (part of Quora) and get access to a few more models.
  • OpenAI ChatGPT — Interesting how they own ai.com.
  • Pi — Another AI chat platform by Reid Hoffman. It’s supposed to be a “kind” chatbot.
  • Bing Chat — You can use GPT-4 for free with this. Still waiting for general release of Bing Image Creator.
  • Microsoft SwiftKey — Bing Chat integrated into your mobile keyboard.
  • Midjourney — Probably the best AI generated image tool right now. But you need to know how to use Discord.
  • NightCafe — Another image generator, easy to use, with many GAN models to try out.
  • Soundful — generate royalty free background music
  • Aiva — create emotional soundtrack music with AI.

Interesting Articles

Audio Generation

Image Generation

Like most notes I write, I will come back to edit it every now and then. Stay tuned. Welcome to leave me with comments and feedback too.

ChatGPT
AI
Workflow
Automation
Machine Learning

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Edward Tsang
Edward Tsang

Written by Edward Tsang

134 Followers
12 Following

Experienced technologist, focused on selective combinations of blockchain and AI. I use Medium to repost what I share on https://evolvingviews.com.

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