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Writing Effective Prompts

Updated Jan 01, 2025 ·

Garbage In, Garbage Out​

The phrase "garbage in, garbage out" aptly applies to ChatGPT. If the prompt is unclear or lacks context, the quality of the response will suffer.

  • Clear, well-contextualized prompts are crucial.
  • Insufficient context leads to lower quality responses.

How Does ChatGPT Interpret a Prompt?​

Understanding how ChatGPT interprets prompts helps in crafting effective ones. Let's use this example prompt:

Please write a job description for a data scientist based in New York

Steps:

  • Broad Topic Identification
    • ChatGPT identifies key phrases like "job description," "data scientist," and "New York."
  • Understand the Request
    • It recognizes the task from verbs like "write" and additional context from phrases like "data scientist" and "New York."
  • Generate the Response
    • Based on the prompt, it generates a response but can provide more personalized results with additional details.

Prompt Engineering​

Prompt engineering involves crafting prompts to maximize response quality and relevance. Here are some foundational best practices.

  • Be Clear and Specific
    • Ensure the prompt contains all necessary context.
    • Specify the desired length of summaries, such as one page, one paragraph, or one sentence.
  • Keep Prompts Concise
    • Remove unnecessary information that dilutes important keywords.
  • Use Correct Grammar and Spelling
    • Proper grammar aids in task interpretation.

Provide Examples if Necessary​

Providing examples can enhance the prompt's effectiveness by adding extra context quickly.

  • Example for Specific Format
    • Request: List customer names, ages, and occupations in a specific format.
    • Instruction: "John Smith, 34, (Builder)."
    • Result: ChatGPT outputs the desired format accurately due to the provided example.