Prompt it like it’s hot!

We have all heard it before – AI is here and it’s here to stay. This year AI has been in the spotlight even more than before, with AI chatbots like Open AI’s ChatGPT or Microsoft’s Bing being brought into the every-day lives of more and more people. But how can you utilize these chatbots yourself, if you have never used them before?

These AI chatbots are designed to be conversational, which means that you don’t have to be able to code in order to use them. However, the quality of the conversation and the output that you receive from the chatbot, largely depends on the prompt you provide. To help you be on your way to becoming a prompt master, we wanted to ask experts for some pointers – and who better to ask, than the chatbots themselves!

We asked Microsoft's Bing and OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbots to provide tips for creating a good prompt for a chatbot. Here are the answers we received:

Bing:

Be clear and concise.
Use simple language.
Avoid ambiguity.
Be specific.
Be polite.

Chat GPT:

Be specific: Provide clarity.
Context matters: Include relevant details.
Ask direct questions: Focus on simplicity.
Avoid complexity: One question per prompt.
Politeness enhances: Be courteous, please.

These answers provide very similar tips to creating a good prompt. We'll list them here in order to elaborate:

1. Be specific
The request or question should be stated as clearly as possible.

2. Provide context
Context is important in getting an output, that is relevant to what you're looking for.

3. Use simple language
Refrain from using overly complicated words or sentences.

4. Avoid complexity 
Ask only one question at a time, in order to give the chatbot a good framing for what you want to get out of it.

5. Be polite
Remember, the chatbots are designed to be conversational; politeness can help in giving you the best possible output. 

Hopefully these tips help you to prompt it like it's hot! It's also good to keep in mind, that you can always elaborate your request in the next message, if the first prompt you write doesn't quite give you the output you're looking for.

Happy prompting!