The Prompt is Key: How to Ensure the Most Useful Generative AI Output

Table of contents

Background

A professor at the University of Iowa is teaching students how to get better results from an AI generator through an assignment centered around the prompts entered in to the generator. Instead of trying to prohibit her students from using AI in her business-communication course, Pamela Bourjaily decided to incorporate AI into the course and teach the students how to more efficiently and accurately use the technology.

 

Bourjaily found that many students were using insufficient or vague prompts for AI generation, which results in insufficient and vague output. One of her objectives in creating the prompt analysis and modification assignment was to demonstrate the weaknesses of generic prompts. In the article, she states:

 

I want students to have the opportunity to practice using ChatGPT as a communication tool and encourage them to think critically about the output they get from it and then have the skills to know how to refine that output. 

 

Here is a link to the Inside Higher Ed article

Methodology

From the article, Professor Bourjaily created these criteria for generative AI prompts that yield the most useful output:

  1. Role. Tell ChatGPT its role, or desired role in the assignment. “Act as a college student” or “Act as a job applicant.”
  2. Task. Summarize the function you want ChatGPT to complete. “Write an essay” or “Create a cover letter.”
  3. Requirements. Include desired elements in the output. “Referencing The New York Times” or “including a job experience at McDonald’s.”
  4. Context or constraints. Supply ChatGPT with the intended audience or define elements that should not be included. “For an English literature assignment,” “Use 10 unique sources” or “Do not include an intro paragraph.”
  5. Goal. Establish the why of the output, meaning what the reader should be able to do or understand at the end. “What further reading would you recommend for my audience?” or “Select topics that could be discussed in small groups.”
  6. Format of output. Give ChatGPT a word or page limit or formatting specifications. “Five hundred words” or “10 pages.”

Potential Benefits to Students

  1. Exposure to and practice with real-world application of AI.
  2. Becoming more proficient at extracting optimal AI output.
  3. Critical thinking in action, and deeper learning.

Interested in trying?

Book an appointment with Eric Kline in AEI to discuss and plan

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