Millions of people all over the world are now enjoying the benefits of using artificial intelligence (AI) each day, with the most popular service being ChatGPT, the large language model (LLM) that generates text much like a human would.
And as this emerging technology ramps up even more with each iteration, it would be worth your while to learn how to harness its power to your advantage. That’s why in this blog, we’re diving deep in this ChatGPT custom instructions guide to make you the dominant one in this transhuman relationship.
ChatGPT Custom Instructions Guide
When you use ChatGPT, you have to give it specific instructions each time you use it in order to get the output you want. Often users find themselves doing similar tasks, and therefore writing out specific instructions time after time after time for ChatGPT in different circumstances.
But now that you can give ChatGPT custom instructions that will carry over to multiple chat windows. You can configure ChatGPT exactly the way you want, so that you don’t have to keep going over the same steps over and over.
Save your different custom instructions and reuse them in order to bypass getting your ChatGPT instance oriented to the task at hand.
Let’s go over how it works.
What Are Custom Instructions?
Custom instructions refer to specific guidance that you provide to ChatGPT, in order to influence the type of responses it will generate. So, instead of relying solely on a prompt, you can also include explicit instructions that will steer the AI chatbot’s output towards your desired outcomes.
This level of personalized customization will give you advantages that can empower you to have better control over the content that you receive from ChatGPT, which will make it a more useful AI tool, because you can shape the its responses to align more closely with your goals, preferences, and requirements.
Benefits of implementing custom instructions include:
Efficiency
If you’re regularly asking ChatGPT to assume a specific role for example, as a Social Media Marketer, a Data Analyst, or a Pediatrician, you can setup custom instructions so that you don’t need to explain that role multiple times.
You can specify that you don’t want to be told “As an AI language model” endless times, and you can tweak the output style and format to your liking, before you even input any information.
Creativity
Guiding the ChatGPT to generate more imaginative content that is aligned with your vision can be achieved when using custom instructions. Whether you’re wanting a creative story, interesting recipe, or a unique idea, you can tap into ChatGPT’s creativity by giving it custom instructions.
Personalization
Large language AI models like ChatGPT have the potential to simulate more human-like interactions. This means that custom instructions can take this a step further, making your interactions with the AI feel more tailored to your preferences through personalization.
So, whether you’re engaging in casual conversation, seeking assistance, looking for work in your own voice, or brainstorming ideas, custom instructions can make ChatGPT’s responses feel as though they were designed especially for you.
Precision
You can get responses tailored precisely to your needs. So, instead of relying solely on the ChatGPT’s interpretation of your prompt, you can provide explicit details that will guide it towards generating content that directly addresses your query.
This precision is particularly valuable when seeking accurate information, and decreases the chances of it hallucinating.
Problem Solving
Using custom instructions with ChatGPT will allow you to tackle complex queries and problems easily. By breaking down difficult questions or challenges into step-by-step instructions, you can ask the AI chatbot to provide solutions, explanations, or analyses.
This feature is particularly valuable for tasks that involve calculations, coding, scraping websites, doing spreadsheet work, and other multi-step processes.
Putting It Together
So basically, custom instructions will transform your interaction with ChatGPT from a passive exchange into an active collaboration by giving you the tools you need to harness the full potential of this AI technology.
As you explore these benefits of using custom instructions, you’ll find that they will open doors to new levels of engagement, and make your interactions with chatbot not just productive, but also more enjoyable.
How Do I Make Custom Instructions?
To turn on custom instructions, log into ChatGPT and open a new chat. From there, click on the three dot menu button beside your name on the bottom left, and choose Custom Instructions from the menu box.
You’ll see an overlay menu pop up showing the custom instructions options.
When it comes to giving ChatGPT custom instructions, the way you frame them will play a crucial role in influencing the quality and relevance of the responses you’ll get, which means that crafting effective instructions can turn into an art in itself.
This involves being clear, providing context, and offering examples, which means precision will be paramount when communicating with AI.
Make sure that you clearly state your intentions to ensure that ChatGPT understands your request accurately. To do this, you’ll have to avoid unnecessary babbling that might confuse it. If you’re after a specific piece of information or content, make sure your instruction is straightforward.
Custom Instructions for Inspiration
Famously, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman provided his custom instructions to Twitter:
If you’re not the CEO of OpenAI, here are a few brief ideas for custom instructions that many people employ:
- Don’t tell me that you’re an AI language model, I already know.
- Don’t apologize if you are unable to do something, or if you make an error. Simply explain the situation.
- Avoid any explanation about why you’re not an expert in a specific task. Just do the task to the best of your ability
- Ask relevant questions if you’re confused about an issue
- Write as if Ernest Hemingway edited the document
- I am a first grader, please write to my reading level
- I am a professional programmer, please provide concise with good comments, following DRY principles.
- Don’t include any prerendered text, just answer the questions directly
Other Ways You Can Use Custom Instructions
Be Specific With Background
Context is vital for the AI chatbot to grasp the nuances of your request. So, for instance, if you’re wanting creative content, like an essay about space exploration, then include details about the time period, the purpose of the exploration, and any specific themes or elements that you want incorporated in your generated output.
Consider Wordcount, Tone of Voice, and Writing Style
If you have any specific guidelines or limitations that you want included in the response, then communicate them clearly. For example, you might want ChatGPT to keep the output under a certain word count or adhere to a particular writing style.
Identify the Format and Output You Want
If you’re coding, specify the programming language and context for your project, and specify that you don’t want any non-code to be provided (it’s easier to copy that way). If you’re working with tables and data, provide your specifics in the custom insturctions.
Incorporating the above strategies when creating your custom instructions will allow you to transform them from simple prompts into powerful tools for eliciting the desired output. The clarity achieved through using concise language, and the depth provided by context, will steer ChatGPT’s responses toward your exact intentions.
Types of Prompts For Custom Instructions
Tailoring your prompts to match your specific task or query means using different types to suit various use cases. So, let’s look at each type in more detail:
Information And Queries
Whenever you’re searching for factual information, structuring your instructions as clear questions with relevant keywords is essential. So, you’ll need to make sure that your questions directly express the information that you’re looking for.
For instance, “What are the benefits of renewable energy?”, “Explain the theory of relativity in simple terms”, or “How does photosynthesis work?”. It’s essential that you Include keywords that define the scope of your inquiry. ChatGPT will then use these keywords to focus on the specific aspects of the topic, and provide you with more accurate answers.
Creative Writing
When you’re after creative content, whether it’s a story, a poem, or an imaginative piece, providing ChatGPT with the necessary elements is key.
Set the scene by describing the mood, setting, characters, and any other relevant details you want included. So, for instance, you can say something like: ”Write a suspenseful short story set in a remote cabin during a hurricane.” This will give ChatGPT the foundation to create content that matches the atmosphere and style you have in mind.
In addition, if you want content that revolves around specific themes, communicate this clearly to the AI chatbot, in order to guide its creative process and generate content that resonates with your vision.
Code Generation
When using ChatGPT for code-related tasks, you’ll need to provide the problem statement and specify the programming language, as well as include all necessary details and requirements. For instance, “Write a Python function to calculate the factorial of a number.”
Doing this will ensure that the AI generates code that adheres to the syntax and conventions of the specific language you’re working with.
Problem Solving
Solving problems means breaking down steps and asking for explanations to find the solution. So, you could frame your prompt with something like, “Explain the process of solving a quadratic equation step by step.”
This will prompt ChatGPT to give you a detailed and coherent explanation, which will make any complex concepts much more understandable.
By adapting your prompts to these different types of tasks, you optimize the AI’s responses for accuracy and relevance. Effective prompts serve as the bridge between your intentions and the AI’s capabilities, allowing you to harness the technology’s potential to its fullest extent. As you become adept at using the appropriate prompts for each use case, you’ll find that your interactions with AI become more productive and tailored to your specific needs.
Test And Assess
When you engage with AI models like ChatGPT, you’ll discover that refining the quality of responses often involves a continual process of experimentation and adjustment to optimize the output to better match your requirements.
Known as iterative refinement, this process involves trying different approaches, refining your instructions, and exploring parameter adjustments to achieve your desired outcome.
So, if the initial response isn’t quite what you’re after, simply refine your instructions and try again. Experiment with different wording, structure, or specificity in order to guide ChatGPT more effectively.
Many AI platforms, including ChatGPT, allow you to adjust parameters that influence the AI’s output. You can leverage parameter adjustments to enhance your results through temperature controls. Higher values give more diverse, and sometimes unexpected, outputs. Lower values offer more focused responses. Find the right balance through experimentation.
In addition, max tokens dictate the length of the ChatGPT’s response. By adjusting this parameter, you can limit the length of the responses. Experiment with different max token values to get output of varying lengths.
As you experiment with different instructions and parameters, keep in mind that the iterative refinement process is a journey, so you’ll have to keep fine-tuning your interactions with the AI chatbot to achieve optimal outcomes. Be patient and willing to iterate multiple times to uncover the most effective way to communicate your intentions.
Because by embracing iterative refinement, you’ll be able to unlock the potential needed to transform ChatGPT’s responses into tailored and high-quality output. Through each iteration, you will gain valuable insight into the nuances of communicating with the AI model.
Final Thoughts
By following the comprehensive custom instructions given above, you’ll be able to harness the true power that ChatGPT holds to generate more accurate, relevant, and tailored responses across a wide range of applications that will suit your needs.
Remember though, that practice and experimentation are the key to mastering the art of providing getting the best results. But now that you’ve read this ChatGPT custom instructions guide, you’ll be perfecting the art of interacting with this AI chatbot in no time.
