In our previous GenAI adventure, we explored the foundations of AI, GenAI, and LLMs, uncovering the magic behind their inner workings. We also dove into the world of prompts, categorizing them based on their informational structures.

Now, prepare to level up your prompt game as we embark on a thrilling quest to classify prompts by their functionality. This exciting new perspective will unlock a treasure trove of practical use cases, empowering you to wield GenAI's capabilities like a seasoned pro.

Instructional Prompts: Your AI's Personal Assistant

When you need the AI to perform a specific task, instructional prompts are your go-to. These prompts are like clear directives, telling the AI exactly what you want it to do. Think of them as clear, concise commands that leave no room for confusion. They often start with action verbs, setting the tone for the expected output.

When to use them:

  • Conquer information overload:  Have a lengthy report or a dense article? Ask your AI to "Summarize the key findings in three bullet points."
  • Break down language barriers: Need to communicate with someone in a different language? Simply tell your AI to "Translate this document into French."
  • Get straight to the point:  Have a burning question?  Your AI is ready to provide "The top 5 benefits of meditation."
  • Spark your creativity:  Feeling a bit uninspired?  Challenge your AI to "Write a poem about a cat's adventures in a magical forest."
  • Seek expert guidance:  Need some advice?  Ask your AI to "Give me three tips for starting a successful blog."

Instructional prompts are the foundation of effective AI communication. They empower you to take control and guide your AI towards the precise output you desire.‍

Conversational Prompts: The AI That Chats Back

If you want to have a natural, flowing conversation with the AI, conversational prompts are the way to go. These prompts encourage back-and-forth interaction, allowing you to explore topics in depth or simply have a casual chat.

Example:

  • Break through creative blocks: Stuck on an idea? "Let's brainstorm some out-of-the-box marketing ideas for my new eco-friendly product line".
  • Simplify the complex: Blockchain technology giving you a headache? "Explain blockchain technology to me as if I were a curious 10-year-old."
  • Practice makes perfect: Nervous about an upcoming interview? "Let's role-play a salary negotiation. I'll be the employee, and you be the tough but fair employer."
  • Share anything and everything: Sometimes, you just need someone to talk to. "Hey AI! What's the most interesting thing you've learned today?"

Conversational prompts transform your AI interactions from one-way commands into lively conversations.

Contextual Prompts: Paint the Perfect Picture for Your AI

Sometimes, the AI needs a bit of background to fully understand your request. Contextual prompts provide that crucial context, specifying the AI's role, your intent, or any specific constraints. You can also include examples to illustrate the desired output.

Example:

  • Captivate Your Crowd: Want to deliver a speech that truly connects with teenagers? Set the scene for your AI: "You are an inspiring speaker. Imagine you're addressing a group of high school students who are passionate about climate change. Craft a speech that is both engaging and exciting."
  • Make the Complex Child's Play:  Want to explain how airplanes fly to a curious 7-year-old? Tell your AI: "You're an aerodynamics expert with a knack for explaining complex things simply and engagingly. Your task is to explain to a 7-year-old how airplanes fly. Use clear, fun, and age-appropriate language."

Contextual prompts empower you to fine-tune your AI's output, ensuring it's perfectly aligned with your goals.

Creative Prompts: Ignite Your Imagination

These prompts trigger the model to generate original content or ideas, such as writing a poem, creating a story, or brainstorming solutions to a problem. These types of creative prompts often have keywords that open the way for the model’s creativity, and may require multiple refinements and iterations to achieve the desired outcome. Through the model’s responses, we will be more likely to “think outside the box.”

Exmaple:

  • Pen poetry that moves the soul: Challenge your AI to "Compose a sonnet capturing the essence of a moonlit night."
  • Dream up groundbreaking ideas: Stuck in a business rut? Ask your AI to "Conceive a business idea that combines technology and sustainability to revolutionize the fashion industry."
  • Design the future: Need a fresh perspective? Prompt your AI to "Sketch a concept for a self-sustaining eco-city."
  • Explore the impossible: Curiosity piqued? See what your AI comes up with when you ask, "What if gravity suddenly disappeared?"

Creative prompts are your gateway to a world of endless possibilities.

Factual Prompts: Your AI's Encyclopedia

Need a quick fact check or a deep dive into a specific topic? Factual prompts are your direct line to the vast knowledge your AI has absorbed. It's like having a walking encyclopedia at your disposal, ready to answer your questions with precision and accuracy.

For example, querying information about historical events, scientific concepts or quizzes. Technically, this type of prompt will exploit the knowledge that the model has learned in the pre-training phase and provide it back to the user.

Example:

  • Travel back in time: Curious about historical events? Ask your AI "What were the major causes of World War I?"
  • Demystify scientific concepts: Struggling to grasp a complex idea? Have your AI "Explain the theory of relativity in simple terms."
  • Trivia champion: Ready to test your knowledge? Challenge your AI with "Who holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals?"
  • Fact-check with confidence: Unsure about something you read online? Ask your AI to "Verify if the Earth is indeed flat."

Step-by-Step Prompts: Your AI's Trusty Guide

From cooking a delicious meal to building a complex software application, step-by-step prompts are your go-to tool for achieving any goal. Craft prompts that elicit detailed instructions, ensuring your AI model understands your needs and delivers results that exceed expectations. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, step-by-step prompts empower you to communicate effectively with AI and unlock its full potential."

Example:

  • Conquer culinary challenges: Craving a delicious homemade treat? Ask your AI, "Guide me through baking a fluffy souffle, step-by-step."
  • Become a DIY pro: Facing a flat tire or a leaky faucet? Your AI can provide "Clear instructions on how to fix a running toilet."
  • Tech made easy: Setting up a new gadget or software? Have your AI "Walk me through the process of installing and configuring a wireless printer."

Opinion-Based Prompts: Exploring Perspectives

This type of prompt asks the model to give an opinion, point of view or suggestion on a certain topic. While AI doesn't have personal beliefs, it can synthesize information to present diverse viewpoints on any topic you desire.

Exmaple:

  • Which self-study method do you think is the most effective, why?
  • In your opinion, who is the best football player of all time?
  • Would you buy Samsung S25 or Iphone 15, why?

Systematic Prompts: Organizing Information

These prompts are designed to guide the model to generate responses that adhere to a specific structure, format, or pattern. For instance, they can be used to create a list of topics, outline an essay or presentation, or systematically analyze a given topic. Essentially, these prompts encourage the model to organize and present information in a clear and logical way. While creating these types of prompts isn't particularly challenging, they can yield incredibly useful results because:

  • Improved clarity: They ensure that the model's responses are well-structured and easy to understand.
  • Enhanced organization: They help the model to present information in a logical and coherent manner.
  • Increased efficiency: They streamline the response generation process by providing a clear framework for the model to follow.
  • Greater versatility: They can be adapted to a wide range of topics and tasks.

Example:

Prompt 1: List 5 benefits of regular exercise and briefly explain why each benefit is important

Prompt 2: You are a nutritionist. Write an 800-word blog post about the Mediterranean diet. Your post should include the following sections:

  • Introduction to the Mediterranean diet and its origins
  • Foods to eat and avoid
  • Proven health benefits of the Mediterranean diet
  • Tips for starting and maintaining the diet
  • A sample menu for one week

Chain-of-Thought (CoT) Prompts: The AI's Thoughtful Detective

This is a type of chain prompting, where a series of inputs and outputs are connected together. The technique uses the model's own output as a prompt for the LLM to get the next result. This prompting technique is used to solve complex problems, such as multi-step tasks or to ensure continuity in conversations with the model. CoT is often used to explore a topic in detail, requiring a vision of the 'expected result'. This allows you to evaluate the AI's response to see if it's satisfactory and what details to delve into next.

Example:

You are looking for a new laptop. You have narrowed your choices down to two models:

Model A: Price $1500, Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 14-inch Full HD screen.

Model B: Price $1800, Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 15.6-inch Full HD screen.

You are wondering which model to choose. Consider and include the following factors in your answer:

  • Determine your needs
  • Compare prices
  • Consider other factors

Tree of Thought (ToT) Prompts: Your AI's Brainstorming Powerhouse

This is a cutting-edge prompting technique for communicating with LLMs. Instead of generating a single, direct response to a question or problem, this type of prompt encourages the LLM to explore multiple solutions, much like a tree branching out. The LLM generates potential "thoughts," then evaluates the usefulness of each thought. This process is repeated multiple times, with the model refining and improving its thoughts based on the evaluation results.

This technique can be used to solve complex problems that require multiple steps of reasoning or creativity. It also increases accuracy by exploring multiple solutions, allowing the model to find better and more accurate answers. This is currently the most advanced technique, showcasing the incredible potential of LLMs in problem-solving.

Example: Wanting to ask about Which major should I study to have good job opportunities in the future?

Traditional prompt: give a list of occupations that are predicted to be in high demand in the future, such as information technology, healthcare, renewable energy, etc.

Prompt ToT:

Prompt 1: Imagine three different experts answering this question. All experts will write down 1 step of their thinking, then share it with the group. All experts will then move on to the next step, and so on. If any expert realizes they are wrong on any point, they will leave. Please create a marketing plan for my online shoe store.

Promt 2: Each expert, please give me 2 specific strategies at each suggested step.

Prompt 3: ...

Moving forward, it's clear that our experts are delving deeper into the marketing plan, providing more detailed descriptions of each step in the process. To continue this exploration, we can simply repeat the prompt or ask a specific expert to elaborate on a particular aspect that we're interested in.

Potential next steps:

  • Incorporate real data: We can introduce actual data from our business (with caution), such as market conditions, customer preferences, revenue, and target goals.
  • Expand expert input: As we progress, we can broaden our prompts to include more expert suggestions or query multiple experts at the same stage to gain diverse perspectives.

Conclution

This article has provided a comprehensive overview of different prompt types and how to utilize them for effective interaction with Large Language Models (LLMs). From simple instructions to advanced techniques like Tree of Thought, mastering the art of prompt engineering will empower you to harness the full potential of AI.

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