About this learning module
On this page, you’ll learn how to unlock the full potential of Generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard, and Bing with expert prompt techniques. Through practical examples, you will gain insights for crafting effective prompts that yield insightful and engaging responses to amplify your work in government with minimal time commitment. The instructional material below will enhance chatbot interactions of both novice and AI enthusiasts.
NSW Government projects that use AI tools in their development must adhere to the NSW AI Assurance Framework. Before you complete the activities in this learning module, ensure you familiarise yourself with the pillars of NSW Government's approach to AI.
This module doesn’t explore the intricacies of prompt engineering, which includes advanced techniques for enhancing prompts within Enterprise Solutions. Advanced techniques encompass methods such as Chain of Thought, Zero-shot-CoT, Self-Consistency, Generated Knowledge, prompt tuning, as well as the adjustment of parameters like temperature and max tokens. We plan to make information on this subject available in the future.
What is a chatbot prompt?
Chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are designed to emulate real-life conversations. Prompts are what you use to interact and communicate with chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing, or Bard. A prompt defines the instructions a Language Model uses to generate text, translate languages, craft various types of creative content, and seek answers to your questions. To facilitate a seamless conversation, chatbots must retain the entire conversation history. This capability to remember past interactions is a defining characteristic of a chatbot.
Understanding prompts
3-minute activity
In this section, we'll explore the fundamentals of prompts and why they are essential in the world of public service.
When interacting with chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing, or Bard, prompts serve as your primary means of communication. Designing your prompt well ensures you receive the most purposeful and accurate response to your query or request. Good prompts have clarity of intent, establish context, control the output style, mitigate bias, and avoid harmful content. By carefully crafting prompts, you can enhance relevance, accuracy, and responsible usage of the chatbot.
Designing prompts
When you communicate with chatbots through prompts, your natural language is the key. To create a well-structured prompt, keep the following objectives in mind.
- Guide the model to generate the desired output
- Improve the quality of the model's output
- Make the model more predictable and controllable
- Reduce bias in the model's output.
Prompt components
Prompts typically consist of the following components.
- Instruction: A specific task or instruction you want the model to perform
- Context: Relevant information providing background or context
- Input data: The input data that we are interested to find a response for
- Output format: The type or format of the output
- Audience: The intended recipient or target audience.
Not all prompts require all these components. The format of a prompt should align with the specific task at hand. By the end of this module, you will have a solid understanding of these basic components and their suitable formats for different tasks.
Differences
As you begin to enhance your prompting skills, it's crucial to recognise that each chatbot has distinctive attributes that continually evolve. These bots produce varying responses to identical inputs, which are driven by their unique tendencies.
Some excel at generating creative content, summarising information, or addressing research-oriented queries. Others may exhibit lower accuracy and a tendency to produce biased content. Understanding these model-specific inclinations enables you to tailor prompts to either harness or mitigate these tendencies. Embrace curiosity and explore various chatbots.
How to craft clear and effective prompts
3-minute activity
In this section, you’ll learn how to create effective chatbot prompts. We’ll give examples that demonstrate the use of the following key principles:
- Conversational mastery: craft prompts that maintain a natural conversation flow
- Action oriented: discover how to create prompts that lead to actionable outcomes
- Context-driven: learn how to tailor prompts to your audience
- Clarity matters: how to ensure your prompts are clear and concise.
Chatbots are conversational tools. Craft prompts that maintain a natural conversation flow. and introduce your topic as you would in a human-to-human conversation.
“I’m looking for guidance on how to create an effective policy document. Can you provide me with some tips and steps to get started?”
Continue to guide the conversation by asking what information the Chatbot needs to complete your task:
“What additional information do you need to complete this policy example?”
Now we will explore how to create prompts that are result-driven and lead to actionable outcomes.
Clearly state the objective of your task in your prompt.
"The policy's objective I want to write is to create a harassment-free workplace. The policy must define prohibited behaviours, reporting procedures, and consequences for violations, fostering a safe and respectful environment."
Clearly state what you need the Chatbot to do. Use action verbs, e.g., "provide", "summarise", "review".
"Please provide a comprehensive workplace harassment prevention policy that outlines the following: x,x,x."
Split complex tasks into simpler subtasks.
"Please provide the outline for this policy."
"Please provide example content for the outline."
Ask the Chatbot model to provide examples of the actions in the policy.
"Please provide examples of the consequences of workplace harassment."
Craft your prompts by keeping the context of your query and outcomes in mind.
Adapt a tone and language to match your audience.
"Maintain a professional and respectful tone throughout the document."
Furnish essential background information.
"The organization is committed to creating a safe, respectful, and harassment-free workplace for all employees."
Ask the model to use a persona to connect the policy with the main target audience.
"Use examples in the policy using the persona of Alex the new employee."
Guide the model to answer using a reference text.
"Please provide content for the policy in line with the following best practice ."
Direct the model to include citations from a reference text.
"Please include relevant citations to any information I provide."
To craft effective prompts, prioritise clarity. Use plain language and avoid ambiguity.
Ensure the message is easy to understand.
"Please explain the consequences of workplace harassment, focusing on how it affects employees and the organization.” Vs “Kindly elucidate the ramifications and repercussions entailed by instances of workplace harassment."
Include details in your query to get more relevant answers.
"The measures we would like to include to prevent workplace harassment are x,x,x."
Use delimiters to clearly indicate distinct parts of the inputs.
"Summarise this part of the policy #xxxx#."
Specify the desired length of the output.
"Please shorten the paragraph to under 50 words."
Provide examples. This allows the model to understand the structure, language, and content commonly used in similar policies.
"Please use the following example policy as a reference for our new Workplace Harassment Prevention Policy ."
Remove content that doesn’t relate to the tasks.
Tips for basic to advanced prompts
10-minute activity
Keep it simple by using straightforward language.
"Please provide a summary of <insert>."
Be specific by providing precise instructions or requests.
"Please provide a 10-point summary of the most important findings in <insert>."
Guide the response, instruct the model how technical you want the response.
"Please explain in simple terms, using non-technical language."
Use delimiters to clearly indicate distinct parts of the inputs.
"Summarise this part of the policy #xxxx#."
Specify the desired length of the output.
"Please shorten the paragraph to under 50 words."
Direct the tone of language specific to the intended audience.
"Maintain a professional and respectful tone throughout the document."
Ask for the output to be put into a table format.
"Create a table listing the distinctions between ChatGPT and Bard."
Split complex tasks into simpler subtasks.
"Please provide the outline for this policy."
"Please provide example content for the outline."
Contextualise your prompts.
"Please provide a concise summary of the key points from this technical standard related to AI [insert]."
Foreground the most critical details in your prompt.
"Please prioritise the most critical detail at the beginning of the summary."
Ask for a step-by-step response.
"Please provide a step-by-step breakdown of the process for . Begin with the first step and proceed sequentially."
Ask for comparative analysis.
"Please conduct a comparative analysis outlining the advantages and disadvantages of renewable energies versus fossil fuels using [insert]."
Provide examples. This allows the model to understand the structure, language, and content commonly used in similar policies.
"Please use the following example policy as a reference for our new Workplace Harassment Prevention Policy [insert]."
Specifying the desired perspective, role, or persona the content is being written by.
"Write the content from a diversity and inclusion committees’ perspective."
Ask the model to use a persona to connect the policy with the main target audience.
"Use the persona of Sarah as the new employee examples in the policy."
Limit input verbosity to obtain information at the desired level of detail.
"Provide a detailed explanation of the water cycle, including its various stages and processes."
Use a reference text to model the response:
"Please provide content for the policy in line with the following best practice [insert]."
Direct the model to include citations from a reference text.
"Please include relevant citations to any information I provide."
Direct the model to anticipate and answer questions.
"Please include in your response answers to potential questions that employees might have about the content you generate."
Ensure responses are logical, consistent with transparent explanations.
"Please provide answers supported by clear and logical reasoning."
Direct the model to answer questions for provided content or declare unable to answer.
"If the answer is not found in the articles, state “I could not find an answer”
[Articles enclosed within triple quotes]
Question: [insert question here]"
Practical examples
Problem: Finding a fresh idea or perspective can be challenging.
"Generate creative ideas and potential solutions for enhancing employee engagement in a remote work environment."
Problem: It’s common to hit a wall during the writing process.
"I'm writing about [your topic] but stuck on [specific challenge]. Can you provide suggestions, insights, and fresh ideas to move forward."
Problem: Even the best writers occasionally make grammatical errors or awkward phrasings.
"Please review the following text for grammar and syntax errors: [Insert your text here]."
"Please rephrase and simplify this paragraph to make it more easily understandable."
Problem: Distilling information from various sources can be time-consuming.
"Provide a summary of the key arguments in this article/abstract."
"Create an executive summary that encapsulates the main points and recommendations of this report."
Problem: Making a persuasive argument requires strong evidence and logical consistency.
"Recap the main arguments presented in this debate, highlighting the key points from both sides."
"Strengthen my argument by identifying counterarguments, evidence, and improvements for [your argument]."
Problem: Ensuring your writing flows smoothly and maintains a consistent theme can be tricky.
"Provide suggestions to improve the overall structure and flow of this content for better readability and understanding."
Problem: Diversifying your writing style can make your work more engaging.
"Here's my content about [provide a brief description of your content]. Please generate three different versions of this content, each in a distinct writing style. I'm looking for variations in tone, word choice, and overall style to see how it can be adapted for different audiences."
Problem: Organising your thoughts and ensuring a logical flow can be challenging.
"I have some ideas on [your topic], but they are scattered. Can you help me structure my thoughts and create a logical flow for my content? Please provide an outline or framework."
Problem: You have a page of text with statistics and you need it in table format.
"Create a table listing the distinctions between ChatGPT and Bard."
"I have a dataset with [specific data]. Please create a pivot table to summarize this data by [specific category or dimension]."
"Create a hierarchical structure for the data, with parent and child relationships based on [specific criteria]."
Problem: You have a technical term that you do not understand.
"Can you please explain the term [specific term] to me in simple language?"
"Provide an overview of [specific technical topic], including its key concepts and applications."
Problem: You need to identify if a piece of text contains something of interest.
"Examine the following text and identify if it contains any information related to [specific topic or keyword]. If it does, please extract and summarize that information."
Problem: The chatbot you interact with is trained on data that is bias.
"Please review this content for any potential biases, stereotypes, or unfair representations and provide suggestions for improvement."
"Help me incorporate diverse perspectives and voices into this content to ensure a balanced and inclusive viewpoint."
Problem: You need to remove jargon to make the content accessible to all readers.
"Identify and replace any technical jargon or complex terminology in this text to ensure it's accessible to a general audience."
Problem: You need to analyse data for important words, feelings, and recurring topics.
"Perform text mining on the dataset to extract key terms, sentiments, and themes."
Problem: You need to create a project plan for something you haven’t done before.
"Develop a step-by-step project execution plan for implementing a new software system, starting with project initiation and concluding with quality assurance and deployment."
Problem: You need to translate a document from English to French.
"Translate the following document from English to French: [Insert your text here]."
Problem: You need to write an email to a group of senior executives.
"Outline a concise, action-oriented email to update executives on a specific topic, clarify the next steps, and request their input regarding a critical decision."
Problem: I must deliver a speech, but I'm not sure how to start or structure it.
"Write a compelling opening and outline for my upcoming speech on [topic]."
"Please review the speech below and provide suggestions to make it more engaging and captivating for the audience."
Problem: I'm conducting interviews, but I need a list of thoughtful questions.
"Generate a comprehensive set of interview questions tailored for candidates seeking the [job position]."
Problem: I need to synthesis my research for key insights and patterns.
"Examine the provided data to uncover emerging trends, identify key patterns, and highlight any significant findings that can guide our future strategic decisions. Ensure your analysis is data-driven and substantiated by the information provided."
Problem: I've written a piece of code, but I want to ensure its efficient and error-free.
"Review my Python code and provide suggestions for optimisation and bug fixes."
"Review my [programming language] code for efficiency, errors, and best practices."
Further learning
Use the chatbot to continue your prompt learning.
"Please provide 10 exceptional prompts that showcase this Chatbot's capabilities and creativity."
Ask the chatbot to suggest improvements for your prompt..
"Could you please help me refine and enhance this prompt for better results?"
"Could you provide examples of prompts that will help me enhance my prompt-writing skills when interacting with chatbots?"
Use the chatbot to discover websites with information on available chatbots.
"Is there a website listing all available chatbots in one place?"
Research online to find the best chatbot training course that suits your needs.
If you’re loving prompting, you’re in luck. A new role is emerging called Prompt Engineering. Yes, it really is a thing and not just hype. This is where you can learn advanced prompt skills and apply the prompts within enterprise solutions so users can get the benefits of Large Language models and not have to know how to prompt.
Conclusion
Congratulations on completing the "Chatbot prompt essentials" module! In this module, you've gained valuable insights into crafting effective prompts for public service. Remember that mastering prompts is a vital skill that can enhance communication and streamline processes within your government agency. Apply these tips in your daily work, and you'll be better equipped to achieve your agency's goals.