Artificial Intelligence (AI) requires a carefully constructed prompt to perform effectively. There are a few key elements to a strong prompt. First, assign the AI a role—decide what kind of expert you want it to be and what type of recommendations you’re looking for. Next, clearly specify the format of the output—should it be in a table, narrative, or another format? Finally, provide as much context as possible to improve the quality of the response.
We’re rapidly moving through stages in our relationship with AI. Currently, it’s “me plus AI”—a collaboration. Soon, we’ll reach a stage where AI leads, and eventually, it could become “just AI.” These stages illustrate how technology will shift roles and responsibilities in various industries.
It’s crucial to remember that AI predicts the next word in a sequence, which means it’s always making guesses. This is why verifying the AI’s responses is essential. While AI can make impressive suggestions, it is equally important to acknowledge when it errs. Understanding who contributed to a project—whether it’s AI, human editors, or a combination—will likely become a standard practice in the future.
Where is AI taking us, and why haven’t we fully embraced it yet? AI holds enormous potential to boost productivity, enhance writing, and improve our overall efficiency in both work and life. Despite the endless opportunities, some still hesitate. Perhaps it’s because we’re still grappling with AI’s impact on our daily routines. That’s okay, as long as we continue to have fun exploring the possibilities.
Preparing for a webcast I’m offering this month has been eye-opening. I asked AI to create an outline of the key points it wanted us to know about itself, generate slides, and illustrate those slides with images. Remarkably, it accomplished all of that. This begs the question: Is the future already here? It feels like we’re catching up to the present while the future is rapidly unfolding before us.
So, what’s a person to do? Keeping up with AI advancements is challenging. I’ve narrowed my focus to three chatbot platforms: ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. ChatGPT offers straightforward responses, while Claude takes a more nuanced, thoughtful approach. Perplexity, on the other hand, excels at generating detailed reports, citing sources, and offering supplementary materials like YouTube videos. These tools provide a diverse set of capabilities, each suited to different tasks, but staying updated on them all is no small feat.