3 Steps To Write Good AI Prompts

With over 300 million AI users globally, everyone is trying to figure out how to write good AI prompts. ChatGPT and other forms of AI invaded us quickly and a lot of users still struggle to write the right prompts. 

Prompting your AI tool correctly does not only save you time but enhances the results you obtain. Let’s get started on how you can rightly prompt AI to get the best result for your intent. 

What is An AI Prompt?

AI (artificial intelligence) prompt is a means of communication between a human and a large language model telling the model to generate an intended response.  

Think of AI prompts as a list of orders you give the waitress at your favorite restaurant.  You tell the waitress what you want and it is brought to you. 

AI prompt provides the AI tool with a piece of information that it is meant to act on. The prompts can be in the form of questions, statements, examples, or codes. 

Now that you understand what AI prompts are, are they really important? 

Why are Good AI prompts Important? 

Imagine telling the waitress at a restaurant to serve you rice while your friend requests for jollof rice. You both requested rice, but your friend is more specific. 

Good prompts bridge interaction gaps between humans and AI. Using good prompts; 

• clearly communicate your intent to the AI tool 
• when used effectively, helps save time and thereby enhances performance 
• it increases AI comprehension making it generate the desired response 

How to Create Good AI Prompts? 

Getting to know your AI tool is the first thing to do in creating AI prompts that give you the best result. Yeah! You should understand what the AI tool can and cannot do. This will guide you in communicating your intentions clearly within the scope of what the tool can do.  

You should fulfill three key requirements to create a good AI prompt. 

• Keep it simple and direct:  Be clear, direct, and concise. Your AI tool doesn’t like unnecessary details. Including several details that are not important will do nothing but to confuse it. 

• Provide Adequate Context: Contexts are like preliminary maps that help your AI navigate properly. You should provide the right context required to help your AI tool navigate and streamline its search. 

• Single Task: Overloading several tasks sets the path for inconsistency and error in responses provided by your AI tool. Despite being built to handle different tasks, AI tools cannot multitask. Avoid task overload! 

Before you write your next AI prompt, check to ensure you provide clear and concise directives for your AI tool. To ascertain you are on the right track to creating the right prompt,  use this 5 checklist. 

• Are your instructions clear? 
• Are there specific details about your request? 
• Are there examples and ideas to guide?
• Are there no grammatical errors in your prompts? 
• Is the prompt following a clear structure? 

Communication is key in every relationship. Communicating your intentions clearly is required to prompt your AI tool and get the best response. When prompting AI, you should evaluate the responses it gives and tweak the prompts to get the best out of your AI tool.

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Michael Adewunmi

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