Having used AI for a long time, in fact many users still do not know how to write effective prompts.
Prompt (command) is simply understood as a command or request that the user gives to the AI with the hope of receiving appropriate results.
For example, if you give the AI a request "Create a short story about a lost cat", this sentence is a prompt.
In addition to being imperative, a good prompt needs to have clear, specific instructions about the user's wishes.
A good prompt also needs to be logical, easy to understand, and have clear directions, like a "detailed map" guiding the AI.
For example, the prompt “Write about fog” is a rather vague prompt, lacking instructions for the AI to clearly understand what you want. As for the prompt "Create a short 10-line poem about a foggy morning in Da Lat, with a romantic, emotional tone, for nature lovers - make it like a vivid poetic picture!" is a complete, detailed prompt.
According to experts, when writing prompts, users often encounter errors such as not determining the purpose or desire for the answer that the AI creates, or writing too general, vague, not providing enough information or context, causing the AI to misunderstand and give incorrect answers.
In addition, some important details such as length limits, style or content format are often forgotten by many users.
Besides, most users have not yet identified the strengths and weaknesses of each AI tool to choose the appropriate tool for each purpose.
When writing prompts, there are a number of effective methods you can apply.
5W - 1H in which 5W includes What, Who, When, Where, Why and 1H includes How.
You can refer to the CO-STAR formula created by Data Science & AI of GovTech Singapore.
– Third, readers can break down the problem so that the results are more in-depth and get more data. You can separate each factor to get a detailed answer, or instead of getting a general response, we can ask the AI to provide many different perspectives.
Examples instead of giving commands “The impact of social networks on student learning” you can divide it into “The impact of social networks on students' ability to concentrate on studying”, "Benefits of social networks on student learning".
– Finally, testing and tweaking is an effective method. Users will actively check the results and then adjust the prompt to achieve the best results. Currently, most AI tools have the ability to edit prompts.
Writing prompts does not just stop at conveying requirements, but also needs to be flexibly adjusted depending on the type of content you want AI to create: text, photos or videos.
– First, for text formatting, some general notes include clearly defining the purpose of creating the content and what the desired result is. Next, provide detailed input data, especially context, with important data written first.
When writing a prompt for a document, it is necessary to ensure a number of criteria such as writing style (formal, informal, humorous,...), format (paragraph, list, table), length (150 words, 1000 words,...), target audience (students, experts,...).
After AI has returned results, it is necessary to carefully check and edit to ensure the accuracy of the content.
– For photo formats, the most important thing for users is to determine what they want to achieve, such as wanting to create product photos, portrait photos, historical photos, real-life photos, etc.
Prompts to create images can be written according to the process starting from determining the content you want to convey, then determining the main and secondary subjects.
Once you have entered the above elements, the reader continues to provide information about the context, depth of the photo, color and mood, costume details and props.
The prompt to create an image will be flexible depending on the user's purpose.
It's important to note that AI-generated photos can belong to you or the AI platform depending on the tool's usage policy.
Many AI platforms today also advise against creating images related to national flags, political or religious symbols to avoid violating culture, law or causing controversy.
– For video formats, the first criterion is to focus on a main character or topic, ensuring the AI understands the focus correctly.
Video differs from photos in its motion.
With video, users need to choose the appropriate style such as animated, realistic, or hand-drawn.
Prompts for videos should not be too lengthy, nor should the requirements be too complex such as describing too many characters and actions at the same time because the nature of AI cannot handle multi-layer layouts well.
Finally, users need to avoid making sensitive content to comply with AI regulations, ensuring that commands do not exceed the AI's current capabilities.
Prompt is an important bridge between humans and AI.
According to Viet Anh & Minh Nhat - Dan Tri
