Expert’s tips on prompting ChatGPT correctly

How can you create a quality Facebook or blog post with AI? An AI consultant shared some hands-on tips for using ChatGPT on the Yrittäjä podcast.

Antti Merilehto, who has worked as an AI consultant for eight years and run his company, Elev Consulting, for twenty, was a guest on the Yrittäjä podcast. He has been busy recently.

“Since March, the phone has been ringing off the hook. Now that ChatGPT is here, companies want to know what it is and what it means for them and their clients.”

On the podcast, Merilehto stresses that ChatGPT is not the same as a Google search.

“It’s a word-guessing machine which generates text and images in response to natural language prompts. You can’t blindly trust ChatGPT’s answers because AI’s learning material contains everything on the internet. If we want information, we have to go to Google and search for a good source. Nevertheless, a lot of people have been using ChatGPT like a Google search.

“The most important rule of thumb is never to publish any text from ChatGPT without reviewing it first.”

Practical tips for using AI

On the Yrittäjä podcast, we go into detail of how to use ChatGPT through the correct commands and prompts. Two areas Merilehto gives advice on are how to create social media posts, blog posts, marketing messages with AI and how to guide AI to create content with the right tone of voice. Listen to the full episode here!

“It’s important to order the machine to assume the desired role. If I work in travel, I order the machine to assume the role of an experienced travel and marketing communications professional. After that, I tell it that I’m writing a Facebook post. I also tell it the company’s name. Finally, I tell it what the post is about. If I don’t do this, the answer is quite average and generic.”

Merilehto says that the Plus version of ChatGPT, which costs around €20 per month, is better at identifying what length of post is best for which social media channel.

“ChatGPT Plus does different versions for different social media channels. For example, a LinkedIn text comes out different to one for Facebook or Instagram. AI often adds hashtags and emojis.”

Striking a culturally appropriate tone

On the podcast, Meriluoto gives a few practical tips for improving the answers provided by AI.

“AI will often use Anglicisms, beginning messages with phrases like ‘I hope this finds you well’ translated literally into Finnish. That’s why it’s good to signpost a direction for the answers, such as ‘write a shorter opening’ or ‘write a more European opening’. Using ChatGPT is a kind of table-tennis game where you keep batting the ball back and forth with the machine until you get the best possible result.

“A lot of people try to reach a result with just one prompt. If I haven’t given the machine a role or any additional information, the answer will be average and boring; it won’t arouse anyone’s interest.”

Listen to the Yrittäjä podcast on Supla or Spotify!

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