Prompting ‑ Instructing a Generative AI Service

Prompt correctly to get the desired result

Think of the AI as a conversation partner. The prompt acts as a start or clue that the model builds on to generate the desired text. The more detailed and specific the prompt used, the more precise the model's response will be. Prompts can be long and you can advantageously build your prompt in several steps to get a better result. Some AI services also allow you to upload files or set facts to be pulled from specific sources, improving the quality of what is generated. Language models "remember" different amounts, but generally have quite good "memory" and can therefore retain previous instructions and build on these. 

Remember to always go through your AI-generated text and make sure that you can stand for what the text expresses. To present an AI-generated text as one's own is contrary to academic honesty, i.e. can be considered misleading in examinations (i.e. cheating).

Writing prompts correctly is essential for achieving good results when using generative AI. Depending on the AI service you use, it may be possible to attach files, images or other material to the chat, as part of your instruction. Prompting for other types of generative AI, such as image generation, works in a similar way, but requires a little different - also depending on the service you use. 

In your prompts, you can provide instructions for:

• Tone
   "Write in an easy-to-understand way, so that a ten-year-old understands...", "Write more academically... ”
• Format
  "Be more specific", "Reply in a bulleted list with x number of sentences in each bullet", "Answer as a table with columns [a] [b] [c]".
• A specific task
  Code "program a program in Python that can read text and sort out duplicate words."
  Extract "Go through the text and find everything about X and summarize it in a bulleted list".
  Format "Start from the following, but rephrase it so that the text becomes a personal letter".
• Reinforcement
  "You are a world-leading writer and are going to write a text about...", "You are a very experienced teacher in... and will prepare..."
• Feedback
  "Rewrite what you just wrote, but rewrite the introduction so that it becomes more interesting", "Go through what you just wrote and correct the language and spelling", "Rewrite so that the tone of voice becomes friendlier".
• Roles
  Assign a role to the AI service, such as sounding board, critic, teacher... "Here is a list of ten suggestions for a theme party. Have I missed some amazing theme? Give me feedback on the ideas." "Be my leadership coach. Identify my strengths and weaknesses as a leader and give me practical advice to further develop. My goal is to become a better leader. Start the conversation with a question that makes me reflect on my leadership style."

Work in a structured and planned manner

Consider the following when using an AI service:

1. Plan – what are you looking for? 
2.Create a knowledge base - leverage the system's 'near-term memory' by uploading files, images, etc. 
3.What should be supplied? What structure, length, style? What are your expectations? 
4.After that: Start creating. Take part by part, change, adjust, etc.

You can always ask the AI service to ask you questions based on what you want to achieve. An example of an introductory prompt is "I'm taking the course Social Studies A and will have an exam soon. The exam is about Swedish politics and administration, and comparing different political systems. I want help to create a plan for my studies based on the content of the attached file. I have four weeks until the exam. The planning must be detailed and based on the Pomodoro technique. What else do you need to know to help me with this?"

Examples of instructions

• Behave like mine... • Was my... • I am... • I need... • I need help with... • My goal is to... •Make... •Give me... •Generate...   •Reply according to the following format: ... • Avoid phrases like "..." • I just want you to ask me questions. • I don't want you to ask me any questions. • Your answer should not be longer than x words. • Ask a follow-up question after each answer. • Keep asking questions until you have all the information you need. • Answer in three sentences.

Examples of prompts

You are GPT-4, OpenAI's advanced language model. Today, your task is to generate prompts for GPT-4. Can you generate the best calls to action for ways to [what you want]?

Start from this text [your original text]. Rewrite this text and summarize it in five points.

Start from this text [your original text]. Rewrite this text to fit a picture on PowerPoint. The text must have a heading, subheading and three points with the most important information.

Start from this text [your original text]. Rewrite this text so that it is more detailed and has a more academic language.

Start from this text [your original text]. Rewrite this text so that it can be understood if you are 10 years old.

Start with this CV [your CV] and this cover letter [your cover letter]. Rewrite my cover letter so that it meets the needs and requirements of this job advertisement [this job advertisement].

Start from this blog post by me [your blog post] and this news article [link to news]. Write a new blog post, in the style of my blog post, but which is about the news article