But How to Tell a Machine?
The value of being able to describe our intentions clearly
Hi, fellow human beings. Below you’ll find one thought, two paragraphs, and three takeaways on making sense of AI.
One Thought
To achieve good results with generative AI, we need to externalize our thought-process
Two Paragraphs
We know what we want—until we try to describe it to someone (or something). It’s surprisingly difficult to externalize our thought process in a way that is understandable to others. To perform a task successfully, people (and now machines) need to understand our specific goal, but they also need context and resources to make sense of what we’re looking for. Considering this, prompting an AI is oddly similar to delegating a task. Just think of a time you asked someone to do something for you and didn’t get the desired result. A differently formatted graph, the wrong cream cheese brought home, an answer to a question that you didn’t ask. Maybe the other party doesn’t have the skills to do what you asked it for, but chances are you left out details that would have enabled a better result. So here are a few things you can do right when prompting an AI.
First, it is helpful to provide general context when you start a conversation with generative AI. The more context you provide, the better it will understand you and be able to tailor the results to your needs. Try it the next time you start a conversation—explain a bit more than you usually would and observe what happens. Second, think of resources that might help. Is there an output similar to what you are looking for? Try to share it as an example and label it as such. If multiple steps are needed to achieve the outcome, break the process down so the AI can understand each milestone while allowing you to check its progress. Lastly, avoid contradictory instructions—some elements go well together, and others don’t (e.g., trying to ask the AI to generate an image of a “minimalist living room that is filled with decorative items” is not useful). If you’re unsure how to write better instructions, you can always use flipped prompting and let the AI ask you questions that help you make your prompts better.
Three Takeaways
When interacting with generative AI, it's crucial to offer context at the beginning of the conversation to help the AI better understand your needs and tailor its responses accordingly
If a task involves multiple steps, breaking it down into smaller, understandable parts can help the AI follow and execute each step accurately while allowing you to monitor progress
If unsure how to frame your requests, consider using flipped prompting where the AI asks you questions to refine your prompts
That’s it for today. As always, please feel free to start a conversation with me by responding to this email or reaching out on LinkedIn.
Stay human,
Aki