AI Quick Tips 151: 3 Dos and Don'ts of AI chatbot prompting

If you are frustrated because you aren’t getting the output that you want, the main tip that I can offer is to learn how to improve your prompts.  

Here are 3 things you can start doing immediately:

DO

1. Provide enough context
   1. BAD - Write me a poem
   2. BETTER - You are Dr. Seuss, famous author of children’s books.  Write me a short poem about capybaras.  Make it less than 20 lines.
2. Ask open-ended questions
   1. BAD - Will the weather be nice today in Seattle, WA?
   2. BETTER- What is the weather forecast for today in Seattle, WA?
3. Use easy-to-understand language (avoid jargon or slang)
   1. BAD - What’s the low-hanging fruit?
   2. BETTER - What is the easy to complete task?

And here are 3 things to stop doing immediately:

DON’T

1. Don’t ask leading questions
   1. BAD - Why are Teslas bad vehicles?
   2. BETTER - List the pros and cons of a Tesla for a family of 5.
2. Don’t be ambiguous
   1. BAD - Write a haiku.
   2. BETTER - Write a haiku about an elephant on vacation in Jamaica.
3. Don’t expect the output to be perfect
   1. There’s no BAD and BETTER here.  You will have to review and edit the output.  This is not a 100% solution.