How to prompt the right way?

Let's start with the differences

Every chatbot has its perks, so choose your fighter wisely. Some have knowledge cut-offs, others lack source attribution. Let's have a look.

ChatGPT

• Knowledge cut-off January 2022 (not applicable to ChatGPT 4).
• Plugin data analysis available, allowing exploration of non-indexed pages.
• Ability to link to a URL or PDF for input.

Gemini

• No knowledge cut-off. Requires a Google account.
• No limit on the number of messages, but no source attribution.

Copilot

Knowledge cut-off September 2021, but searches the web for information and provides source attribution (chatbot + web search function). Version 4 of ChatGPT, available for free via a Microsoft account. Supports image processing with DALL-E 2.

PerplexityAi

• Ability to find popular searches and threads. Combination of Ai chatbot and search engine. 
• Displays textual results supplemented with images and videos. Ideal for research purposes (includes source attribution, pre-set prompts).

JasperAI

• Jasper Art (alternative to DALL-E), allows Ai art and text creation.
• Built for marketing purposes (content, social media posts, emails, website copy, etc.).
• Not available for free use.

How to prompt

It's important to start with a brief overview of the project you're currently working on. If needed, you can assign a specific role to the bot. For example: write like a marketing expert. It's recommended to start with a zero-shot prompt, like 'Request a creative piece about futuristic technology'. This can be expanded into a few-shot prompt with examples, providing more detailed information. Remember, the more precise the description, the better.

Some tips to get you going

• Don’t tell AI what not to do; tell them exactly how you want it.
• Stay away from negatively connotated words, as this might influence results.
• Provide specific user information. A prompt like 'Be helpful' can assist in displaying certain information. Refer to the past in the chat if needed (previous output).
• Avoid expressing a preference or bias in your prompt.
• Steer clear of vagueness and open-ended questions.
• Utilize placeholders () to incorporate knowledge about a specific person For example: (character) = Virgil Abloh.
• Request the AI Chatbot to improve your prompt.
• While working in Dutch is possible, the tools generally perform better with English input due to the availability of more English-language content online. 
• Prompt away

While zero-shot prompting is one approach, there are countless ways to reach Rome. You can augment your thought process with intermediate reasoning steps (chain-of-thought prompting), request the addition of steps to visualize the thought process, or, a personal favorite: tree-of-thought prompting. Here, three distinct experts engage in a discussion about your question, collaboratively reaching a conclusion. 

For instance, “imagine three different experts answering this question. Each expert contributes one step of their thought process, shares it with the group, and then they collectively move on to the next step. If any expert realizes they're mistaken at any point, they exit the discussion. The question is..”

What do you think? AI is becoming more of an indispensable companion than a tool – so embrace it and enjoy the ride together.