Don't Use ChatGPT Until You Watch This Video

Leila Gharani
21 Sept 202313:39

TLDRThe video script offers a guide on how to optimize interactions with ChatGPT for better results. It emphasizes the importance of custom instructions to tailor responses, such as setting preferences for language, tone, and response length. The script also introduces creative prompts, like teaching ChatGPT to mimic one's writing style, self-critiquing its own text, and self-prompting to refine prompts. Additionally, it suggests specifying output formats like tables or HTML for practical applications. The key takeaway is that thoughtful input leads to valuable output when using AI tools like ChatGPT.

Takeaways

  • 📝 Utilize custom instructions to inform ChatGPT about your preferences and context, avoiding repetitive explanations.
  • 📋 Define your desired tone, formality, and response length in custom instructions for tailored interactions.
  • 🔍 Set specific parameters like Excel formulas without explanations or code snippets for efficiency.
  • 🔗 Request ChatGPT to provide source URLs for factual information and indicate confidence levels.
  • 📈 Teach ChatGPT your writing style by providing examples, then use it to create content in your style.
  • 🤓 Use ChatGPT as a self-critic to review and improve its own text based on your feedback.
  • 💬 Self-prompt ChatGPT to optimize prompts for better outcomes, such as crafting effective emails.
  • ✍️ Instruct ChatGPT to adhere to a specific word count to manage the length of its responses.
  • 📊 Specify output formats like tables, CSV, HTML, JSON, or XML to structure the information as needed.
  • 🎯 Tailor prompts to include key elements for better results, and ask ChatGPT to explain why a prompt is effective.
  • 🚀 Remember the principle 'garbage in, garbage out' to ensure you're getting the most out of ChatGPT.

Q & A

  • What is the main issue with using ChatGPT without custom instructions?

    -Without custom instructions, ChatGPT may provide poor quality answers, leading to a waste of time with back-and-forth interactions.

  • How can custom instructions improve the interaction with ChatGPT?

    -Custom instructions allow users to set their preferences, such as their identity, desired response style, and the level of detail in answers, which can be saved and reused across conversations.

  • What is an example of a custom instruction for a user who is a software developer based in Chicago?

    -The user could provide a custom instruction like 'I'm a software developer based in Chicago working with Python,' to receive responses relevant to their location and expertise.

  • How can ChatGPT be instructed to provide responses without explanations?

    -Users can specify in their custom instructions, for example, 'When I ask for Excel formulas, just provide the most efficient formula without any explanation.'

  • What is the benefit of asking ChatGPT to inform about the confidence level of its answers?

    -Knowing the confidence level can help users assess the reliability of the information provided, especially for factual topics.

  • How can ChatGPT be taught to write in a user's personal style?

    -Users can provide examples of their writing style, and ChatGPT will analyze these examples to mimic the style when generating new content.

  • What is the purpose of self-critic in the context of ChatGPT?

    -Self-critic allows ChatGPT to review its own text, identify areas for improvement, and provide feedback, which can enhance the quality of the output.

  • How can ChatGPT be used to self-prompt for optimizing its own prompts?

    -Users can ask ChatGPT to generate a set of optimal prompts based on a specific task, and then refine the prompts by answering follow-up questions from ChatGPT.

  • What is the advantage of specifying a word count in ChatGPT's responses?

    -Specifying a word count helps to avoid lengthy replies and ensures that the information is concise and directly addresses the user's needs.

  • How can ChatGPT's output be formatted in different ways?

    -ChatGPT can output responses in various formats such as tables, CSV, HTML, JSON, or XML, depending on the user's requirements.

  • What is the importance of the principle 'garbage in, garbage out' in using ChatGPT?

    -The principle emphasizes that the quality of the input (prompts) directly affects the quality of the output (answers), so crafting good prompts is crucial for getting valuable responses.

Outlines

00:00

🤖 Optimizing ChatGPT for Personal Use

This paragraph discusses the importance of customizing ChatGPT to provide better responses. It suggests setting up custom instructions by informing ChatGPT about the user's profession, location, and preferences for the AI's language and tone. The user can specify how detailed or brief the AI's responses should be, and whether it should have opinions or remain neutral. The paragraph also demonstrates how to use custom settings to get more efficient answers, such as Excel formulas without explanations, and to have the AI provide confidence levels and sources for factual information.

05:04

📝 Developing a Personal Writing Style with ChatGPT

The second paragraph focuses on teaching ChatGPT to mimic the user's writing style. It explains how to provide examples of the user's writing to create a custom style, which can then be used for generating content. The paragraph also introduces the concept of self-critic, where ChatGPT reviews and critiques its own text, and self-prompting, which involves asking ChatGPT to create optimal prompts for specific tasks, such as writing an email to encourage team participation in an event.

10:08

📊 Formatting and Length Control for ChatGPT Outputs

The final paragraph emphasizes the ability to control the length and format of ChatGPT's outputs. It explains how to set a word count limit for responses and how to ask the AI to reduce the length of an existing response. Additionally, it covers various output formats like tables, CSV, HTML, JSON, and XML, and provides examples of how to request and use these formats effectively.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡ChatGPT

ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text based on the prompts given to it. In the video, it is the central tool being discussed, with tips on how to optimize its use for better results. The speaker shares their experiences with ChatGPT and how they have tailored its responses to their preferences and needs.

💡Custom Instructions

Custom Instructions are a feature in ChatGPT that allows users to provide specific guidelines to the AI, such as their profession, desired tone, and response length. This helps ChatGPT to tailor its answers to the user's context, making the interaction more efficient and relevant. The video demonstrates how to set up custom instructions to improve the quality of responses from ChatGPT.

💡Excel Formulas

Excel Formulas are mathematical expressions used in Microsoft Excel to perform calculations and data manipulation. The video script mentions using ChatGPT to assist with Excel formulas, specifically requesting the AI to provide efficient formulas without lengthy explanations, which caters to users who are already familiar with Excel and need quick solutions.

💡Writing Style

Writing Style refers to the unique way in which an individual or entity writes, including tone, vocabulary, and structure. The video emphasizes the importance of teaching ChatGPT to mimic a user's personal writing style by providing examples. This customization allows the AI to generate content that feels more authentic and aligned with the user's voice.

💡Self-Critic

Self-Critic is a method where ChatGPT is asked to critique its own text, providing feedback on how to improve clarity, coherence, and effectiveness. This feature is highlighted in the video as a way to enhance the quality of the AI's output by identifying potential issues and suggesting improvements.

💡Self-Prompting

Self-Prompting involves using ChatGPT to generate a series of prompts that are optimized for a specific task. The video script describes a process where the AI is asked to create a set of prompts for a particular scenario, such as writing an email, and then refining those prompts based on the AI's own questions and the user's answers. This technique leads to more targeted and effective outputs.

💡Word Count

Word Count refers to the total number of words in a piece of text. In the context of the video, the speaker mentions setting a word count limit for ChatGPT's responses to avoid lengthy answers. This helps users receive concise information that is more manageable and easier to digest.

💡Output Format

Output Format determines how the information provided by ChatGPT is presented, such as plain text, table, CSV, HTML, JSON, or XML. The video script provides examples of how to instruct ChatGPT to output information in different formats, which can be useful for various applications, like data analysis or web content creation.

💡Confidence Level

Confidence Level is a measure of how certain ChatGPT is about the accuracy of its answers. The video script suggests setting ChatGPT to always inform the user about the confidence level of its answers, which can be helpful for users to gauge the reliability of the information provided.

💡Source Validation

Source Validation is the process of verifying the credibility of information by providing valid URLs or references. In the video, the speaker instructs ChatGPT to include sources for factual information, ensuring that the user can trust the data and check its accuracy.

Highlights

Custom instructions can be set by clicking on the profile icon to improve responses from ChatGPT.

Providing context about your profession and location can help ChatGPT tailor responses to your needs.

Defining your preferred language and tone, as well as the length of responses, can enhance the user experience.

ChatGPT can be instructed to provide solutions without explanations, saving time for users who are already familiar with the topic.

Custom settings can be used to inform ChatGPT about the confidence level of its answers and to provide source URLs for factual topics.

Teaching ChatGPT to write in your personal style by providing examples can make generated text more authentic.

ChatGPT can act as a self-critic, reviewing and improving its own text based on feedback.

Self-prompting can be used to optimize the prompts given to ChatGPT, resulting in better outputs.

ChatGPT can generate responses in various formats, such as tables, CSV, HTML, JSON, or XML.

Specifying a word count can help ChatGPT produce more concise responses.

ChatGPT can adjust the length of existing text to meet a desired word count or percentage.

The principle 'garbage in, garbage out' applies to ChatGPT, emphasizing the importance of clear and specific inputs.

Customizing ChatGPT can lead to more efficient and relevant interactions, saving time and frustration.

The video provides practical tips for using ChatGPT effectively, which can be applied to other large language model AIs.

The video aims to help users make better use of AI tools like ChatGPT by understanding how to interact with them.