Wired Wisdom: Unlock the power of ChatGPT – Pro user’s guide

In last week’s edition of Wired Wisdom, we shared a beginner’s guide to using ChatGPT.

This week, we look at using the chatbot like a pro.

From advanced prompt tailoring to giving ChatGPT an identity of its own, here’s how to take your generative-AI experience to the next level.

ChatGPT: advanced guide

OpenAI’s ChatGPT can be molded to fit various expert roles and cater to specific objectives to help you streamline everything in your life.

From creating content to strategising, brainstorming, and improving your skills, harnessing the power of AI is (literally) at your fingertips.

Tip 1: Give ChatGPT an Identity

In the quest for sound advice or professional guidance, we often seek specialists so why not treat ChatGPT as an expert?

By assigning an “identity” to the chatbot, you force it to provide specialised insights and assistance tailored to a specific need.

This example below is as bland as it gets:

For example, if you want it to write sales and marketing copy, ask ChatGPT to take on the role of a seasoned copywriter in the finance sector.

Need career guidance? Tell ChatGPT to pretend its an experienced career advisor focusing on young adults.

This is example of the previous prompt now tailored to a specific identity:

This approach not only sharpens the response but also adds an authentic flair to the information you receive.

Tip 2: Define Your Objective

The clearer you are with your objectives, the more aligned the response from ChatGPT will be.

This is known as objective framing.

Let’s say you want to write a tweet.

You’ll start by guiding ChatGPT with specific instructions such as writing a tweet to emphasise the importance of learning how to use ChatGPT.

When it comes to creative writing, you can teach ChatGPT your own tone, style and context for more personalised suggested and strategies.

Always define your goals clearly.

Tip 3: Structure Your Prompts

Taking cues from classic storytelling and copywriting techniques, you can instruct ChatGPT to follow specific formulas or methods.

For example, ask ChatGPT to write a script using award-winning story formulas, such as Pixar’s, to craft engaging narratives.

Remember: ChatGPT isn’t perfect (yet).

Machine copy just doesn’t have the same ring as human-written text. That means if you rely solely on ChatGPT to write your content, you’ll end up with bland content.

Instead, use the content ChatGPT produces as a springboard to get started; as an outline to guide you through the (human) creative process.

Tip 4: Temperature and Max Tokens

You can control ChatGPT’s output variability by putting temperature and max tokens to good use.

Tweak the “temperature” setting in ChatGPT to control the randomness of the output.

A lower value (e.g., 0.2) makes the output more deterministic and focused, while a higher value (e.g., 0.8) makes it more creative and varied.

And by setting the maximum number of tokens (words and characters), you can limit or extend the response length, enabling more control over the final product.

Tip 5: Iterative Refinement

Next, enhance the quality of the generated text through iteration. Just as a human writer would draft and revise, refine, and proofread. The same process can be followed with ChatGPT.

Start with a broad prompt, then refine it using the output as a new prompt. This way, you are having a conversation with the chatbot to fine-tune the results.

Part of iterative refinement involves providing feedback.

If you’re not happy with the first version, provide feedback such as pointing out inaccuracies, or telling it which parts require more depth.

This engages the GPT model in a feedback loop to enhances the final content.

Tip 6: Experiment with different Models

Perspective fusion happens when you use different versions of GPT models – such as the older GPT-3 and GPT-2 in conjunction with GPT-4) to get varied styles.

This is not as clear-cut as the previous tips, but by comparing the different models’ output, you might find one version that resonates with you.

Generate responses to the same prompt from different models, or even with different temperature settings, then combine the best parts of each for a more polished and nuanced final piece.

This can be time-consuming, hence I’ll only use it as a last resort.

By incorporating these additional advanced techniques into your usage of ChatGPT, you can further personalise and enhance the content it generates.

This process will bring the content in line with your specific objectives and requirements.