How to use ChatGPT ‒ Advice for beginners     

Every two months, we have professional presentations to make our working days more diverse. Our employees introduce us to interesting facts from their professional fields. Thus we have the opportunity to get to know the work of our departments in more detail. In April, we had the pleasure to listen to a topic not that closely related to design work. Veronika Krámer and Zsolt Oláh presented the experiences they had gained with software based on Artificial Intelligence. Vera also wrote a blog post about her experiences with ChatGPT, one of the most well-known AI software.

ChatGPT is an excellent tool to get the right answers to our questions. It sums up information with amazing speed and can answer questions from any professional field. However, how and what we ask i.e., what prompts are intended to be used is of key importance. The following blog post includes advice for those, who are just starting to get to know ChatGPT. How should we ask the right questions to receive the necessary information? Here are some useful tips for using it effectively:

Be specific and clear about the question and its context

If the questions that are asked are easy to understand, the answers will be more accurate. Asking vague questions should be avoided because the answers are going to be obscure or irrelevant. Although ChatGPT understands the question we asked even if the words are misspelled, an imprecise question can lead to misunderstanding. Pay special attention to the logical relationship between the sentences, use connecting words, like in spite of, or etc.). The right context also needs to be given. The quality of the answers can be determined, for example, by including the following context:. “Answer as if you were my best friend.” or “Be my strategic advisor.” We can also give the following context: “My question is intended for the employees of a Hungarian company, who are…” or “What shall I cook for my guests if one of them is a vegetarian, the other is lactose intolerant, they like Hungarian food and we have a lot of potatoes at home?”

Let’s communicate with ChatGPT as if it were a real person

Unlike browsers, ChatGPT can engage in conversation. We can ask it to explain its answers in more detail, to give examples, to compare arguments, or to give advice. During a conversation, ChatGPT can remember the history of your conversation, so some expressions do not need to be written again. It is important to be clear about changing the subject or the context by writing, for example, something like “Let’s change the subject.”, otherwise it will stick to the original thread. Another advantage over browsers is that ChatGPT can figure out what we might be thinking about knowing only a few details, like “What’s the name of the phenomenon where…” or “What’s missing from this list?”. Not only that, but ChatGPT can also be funny in some cases. It is always polite, helpful, and never gets tired, it does not give rude answers and admits when it is wrong. When we put it like this, it is better than a human being. 😊

Be aware! ChatGPT can hallucinate

AI hallucination is a phenomenon, which occurs when an AI-based software creates content that does not exist. ChatGPT can also confidently and convincingly claim facts, even about non-existent ideas. This is why we should not trust its answers blindly even though they seem concrete and plausible. It can make a mistake even in a simple mathematical problem. We can easily assess the correctness of an answer if we regenerate it (by using the “regenerate” command). This function is also useful, when we expect multiple answers, such as when generating ideas: “What should be the name of my new startup business, which…?”

What is the point of using ChatGPT at all, if it can be wrong?

At first glance, we might say that using ChatGPT is pointless if its answers can be wrong. But let’s approach the question from the point of view of what it is worth using the tool for. It is definitely worth using it for formulating, paraphrasing, translating, brainstorming, synthesizing ideas, summarizing text, explaining theories, asking for advice, because it is extremely effective. When composing a text, we can specify a request, for example, whether the answers should be formal or informal, how scientific the answers should be etc. It can also help us write codes, to give Excel commands. It is also an excellent tool for browsing literature.

New topic new chat

Misunderstandings can be avoided if we start a new chat for every new topic. The chats are stored, and we can recall them. However, they cannot be searched later for a specific topic, so renaming older chats could be useful.

Communicating in English is an advantage

Although ChatGPT is able to speak Hungarian, it is important to note that it gives better quality and clearer answers when we communicate in English.

A tip for the pros

In Chrome browser, you can use the AIPRM plug-in we can enhance the speed of ChatGPT. We can use numerous pre-written and pre-tested prompts at the touch of a button without having to type them multiple times. It is possible to save our own prompts for later use to add frequently asked questions and requests more quickly.