New month, same excitement over automated computer helpers!
As I rely more and more on AI to help me brainstorm and add initial structure to the things I write (copy and fact finding mostly mostly.) there definitely seems to be a sweet spot for getting the best answers out of an AI assistant.
These are the best hacks I've found to get the most helpful answers from AI:
- Being specific and detailed in my requests. - the responses from AI can wander...a lot! usually I'm trying to find out something specific or have something in mind for a framework or design but am trying to save myself the legwork. Being really prescriptive and precise in my prompt usually makes things a lot more accurate - much like bowling with barriers, less room for error.
- Solving one problem at a time - On the aforementioned wandering answers, most free AI tools work best when processing one question or problem at a time. taking this approach and refining each answer might take a few more rounds but usually leads to the best outcomes (unless you're shelling some $$ on a paid assistant!)
- Providing examples of what I'm looking for. - Whilst good, AI bots aren't mind readers, and with the whole vastness of the internet to trawl through in a few seconds, there's a lot than can go wrong. A lot of free assistants have document loading enabled as part of prompting. Asking for an output to mirror this brand style or tone of voice can narrow potential results down.
- Using clear formatting instructions. - E.g. bullet points, paragraphs, or a specific structure. - This can change a whole lot about your output, asking for a 'short paragraph' can sometimes elicit a full monologue but bullet points force clarity and sometimes give much better results. These can also be expanded on into sentences upon request and can show what the assistant is basing the search on.
As mentioned, this is all based on the free AI's available (Claude 2.5 mainly) If anyone has any experience working with paid versions and notices any differences in parameters or performance, hit me up!
