Research Guides: Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI Prompt Writing

Prompt Writing Tips

Prompt writing involves crafting well-formulated and specific instructions or queries, known as prompts, to interact with AI models effectively and obtain desired outputs. Writing effective prompts is crucial for achieving accurate and relevant responses from AI. These prompts guide the AI in understanding the context and task you want it to perform, influencing the quality of the generated output. Below are some tips for writing effective prompts.

Be specific: Clearly define your task or question ("List and explain three historical causes of World War II"). Vague prompts tend to produce equally vague or irrelevant responses. Avoid ambiguity by providing context and details.
Define your audience or use case: Specify who this content is intended for or how it will be used ("Write a college-level essay for an undergraduate English course"). This helps the AI better understand the context and generate more relevant and useful responses.
Specify the desired length, format, style, and/or tone: In order to generate outputs tailored to meet your specific needs, specify the desired length ("250 words or less"), format ("bulleted list"), style ("in the style of William Shakespeare"), and/or tone ("enthusiastic").
Break down complex tasks: Break complex tasks down into simpler sub-tasks, asking AI to solve each individually. This improves the likelihood of getting more focused relevant responses that can be combined to form parts of a whole.
Proof-read: Proof-read your prompt to ensure it is free of typographical and grammatical errors. While some AI models can interpret and correct common misspellings, providing clear and correct prompts helps ensure you get the best response.
Iterate and refine: If you're not satisfied with the initial response, ask follow up questions or experiment with different phrasings and instructions. Minor changes can sometimes lead to vastly different outcomes.

Prompt Writing Examples

Below are examples of AI prompts an instructor might use in their teaching. These examples are just illustrative. The effectiveness of prompts may vary based on the specific AI model, context, and platform you're using. Flexibility, experimentation, and ongoing refinement are key aspects of mastering the art of prompt writing. Click on the example to view the prompt and output in ChatGPT.

Example 1: Create a syllabus Create a syllabus for a 15-week introductory, undergraduate-level sociology course that meets once a week for 90 minutes. The syllabus should outline the course objectives, topics, grading policies, guidelines for using generative AI, and expectations for student behavior and participation. The required textbook for the course is Anthony Giddens et al. Introduction to Sociology, 12th edition. For each week, suggest lecture topics, readings, and assignments based on the chapters of the textbook.
Example 2: Design a lesson plan Design a ninety-minute lesson plan for an undergraduate American history course on the 1886 Haymarket Square Riot. The plan should include activities that help students understand the factors leading to the event, its consequences, and its relevance to the contemporary labor movement. It should also incorporate primary sources, classroom discussions, and multimedia resources designed to engage students in critical thinking and analysis.
Example 3: Suggest discussion topics Generate five discussion prompts about Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States for a graduate-level U.S. history course. Generate one prompt for each of the following topics discussed in the book: colonization, slavery, labor movement, black civil rights, and women's liberation. Each prompt should ask students to engage with at least one primary source about that topic.
Example 4: Create a quiz Create a 10-question multiple choice quiz for an undergraduate introductory physics course based on the following learning objective: Explain the properties of waves, including wavelength, frequency, amplitude, and velocity. Indicate the correct answer for each question.

Prompt Writing Resources

The ChatGPT Prompt Book
Guide to writing effective prompts for ChatGPT with examples in writing, marketing, technology, and education.
Prompt Engineering Guide
Guide on how to use prompts to interact with and create content using generative AI.
Promptify
Promptify analyzes your input using AI to produce suggestions for new ideas, alternate words, and phrasing.
PromptPerfect
A prompt optimizer tool designed to help users write more effective prompts to achieve better AI outputs.
PromptVine
A community-driven collection of the best ChatGPT prompts. Browse prompts by category, profession, or use case.