Overview
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions exist to enhance productivity and efficiency. Solutions, such as Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT, are powerful tools that can reduce the amount of time required to perform tedious tasks. However, in order to get the most out of these tools, it's helpful to understand the best practices in prompting. This article provides some basic information on how best to prompt your AI assistant, whether it be Copilot, ChatGPT, or another tool.
Best Practices
High quality prompts result in the best quality output from the AI tool, regardless of the tool. It's important to be specific in what you are looking to get from it. An effective prompt consists of four main "ingredients" detailed here.
- Goal or Intent - what you wish to get out of the results, such as a recipe or an explanation of a topic.
- Context - where you're coming from, such as "I'm a beginner cook."
- Source or Specific Information - why you're doing this, such as "I'm trying to make authentic Italian food."
- Expectations (if necessary) - how you want it, such as easy to understand without technical detail or displayed as a list for easy reading.
The more detail you can provide to the tool, the better your results will be.