Creating content by building better prompts
This chapter is going to focus on prompts by describing what building a prompt means and how to construct one. Then we will look at hints and tips on prompt creation. We’ll also have suggestions on where you can find further training options and more information on prompts.
- What does building a prompt mean?
- How do I build a prompt?
- Building a prompt for a specific purpose
- Hints and tips for prompt building
- AI prompt generators
What does building a prompt mean?
Building a good prompt is like finding the right keywords in a search. Having the right prompt will help you get the results that you are looking for, in the right style and format. Your prompt can take the form of a question, text, information or coding. Essentially anything that communicates to the AI tool what response you are looking for. Another way to think about a prompt is to think of it as a seed or a conversation starter. You can start small and build on what you want the AI to deliver, this is called building. In this chapter we will show you what things to think about, and some other tips and tricks.
How do I build a prompt?
There are some specific things that you can think about when you are building your prompt.
Tone
What is it?
Tone is the attitude or mood that you want the AI tool to deliver. Author’s often use tone when they want to convey a particular mood or style. Academics usually use a formal tone when writing for peer reviewed journals.
How do you choose your tone?
Think about what you want your output to be, and the purpose of your output. Is it a fun email to a friend? Is it a simplified version of a research concept that you want to better understand?
Audience
Think about your intended audience. This is going to have an effect on your output. Are you creating prompts to start a discussion for your research? Are you looking at creating marketing content? Are you going to write a social post promoting your research?
Audience Exercise
Try this exercise. Go to your favourite generative AI tool and add in prompts for your research topic to:
- Apply for a grant.
- Promote your research on your blog.
Did you see a difference when writing for different audiences?
Clarity
Be very clear when writing your prompt. AI tools are not intuitive, you will need to be very specific when asking for outputs. For example; if you ask for a response to a research question, think about if you want the answer to be a long response or a concise response.
Role play
Play acting or role play is a way of putting yourself into a situation to better understand it. You can do this with AI tools by getting them to “act as though…”. This provides very clear directions for what sort of output you want from the tool. A really good example of this can be seen in a blog post by Harvard University Getting started with prompts for text-based Generative AI tools.
Role Play Exercise
You try.
- Now ask it to act as though it is your Dean and give a summar