Mastering AI Interactions: Advanced Prompting Techniques for Chatbots

13 ways to prompt chatbots and get the best responses every time

ChatGPT or DeepSeek: Which AI platform creates the most realistic images AI responds best to well-phrased queries. Use effective prompting techniques to guide the chatbot in providing clear, informative, creative answers. Here are essential prompting tips to improve chatbot interactions and increase productivity, whether you access a chatbot from your phone, tablet, or Chromebook. Related ChatGPT: 8 top tips and tricks to boost your productivity Automate time-consuming tasks with ease Posts 1 13 Clear and detailed questions lead to better answers Vague, open-ended questions elicit generic responses that miss the mark. Be specific and add details to reduce ambiguity and help the AI understand your request. Instead of asking, "Explain portrait photography techniques," frame your question as, "Describe two advantages of using natural light over artificial lighting when taking portrait photographs in three to four sentences." This narrows the focus and signals the desired depth and angle. 12 Get AI to generate unique ideas and insights Chatbots aren't limited to factual answers. Prompt the chatbot to think creatively. For example, ask, "Suggest three unusual but practical business ideas related to sustainable fashion?" or "What are two surprising ways smart home devices could transform our lives?" Such prompts generate original responses that bring new perspectives to everyday subjects. Related What is Google AI Teammate? A virtual coworker for the boring tasks Posts 11 Improve AI accuracy by giving background information Neural networks lack human intuition. Provide context and background information to clarify your request. Instead of phrasing it as, "What's a good camera for traveling?" try, "I'm planning a two-week backpacking trip across Europe this summer, focusing on landscape photography. Recommend a lightweight, durable camera for these conditions." Specifying details such as the trip's duration, terrain, and photography focus transforms a generic query into a focused brief. 10 Ask AI to respond as a specific persona or expert Instruct the chatbot to respond from a specific role or perspective. Shape it to "act as a friendly travel guide" or "imagine you are a history professor." Shaping the chatbot's voice to match your intent unlocks an immersive experience. For example, answering a medical question "as if by a doctor" generates a response with technical precision, detailed clinical terminology, and professional empathy. Related 8 ways AI is changing the game for artists, musicians, and other creators Creativity is no longer a solo human gig, AI is crashing the party Posts 9 Use action-based prompts for better responses Use positive, action-oriented language that clearly states your request instead of focusing on what to avoid. For instance, "Use clear and simple language for a general audience" directs the AI to prioritize accessibility, aligning its response with your intent. In contrast, the instruction "Don't use too much technical jargon" forces the AI to interpret vague terms, which can lead to misinterpretation. Similarly, "Provide a summary" demands conciseness, whereas "Don't write too much detail" confuses the AI or dilutes its answers. 8 Ask the AI to break down its thought process Sometimes, the answer lacks the clarity and depth needed to understand a concept, solve a problem, or make a decision. Ask the chatbot to systematically break down its thought process in such cases. Ask, "Can you walk me through this step by step?" or "Explain your reasoning process in detail." In artificial intelligence, this technique is called chain-of-thought prompting. This method transforms vague replies into rich walkthroughs, proving valuable in complex scenarios where the why and how matter as much as the what. Related Why can't AI figure out news summaries? AI doesn't follow editorial standards, here's why Posts 7 Direct the tone with specific instructions Tell the AI exactly how you want the answer presented. Specify your desired format (list, table, guide, or paragraph). For example, request a "five-item bulleted list of healthy snacks with a brief note for each" or a "short paragraph explaining the string theory." The same goes for tone. Specify if you want an engaging explanation or a formal report to align the output with your audience. 6 Break big questions into smaller prompts If your query is broad or multifaceted, break it into smaller, focused prompts. Overloading a single prompt results in a shallow response. Start with one aspect of your topic and follow up with more prompts. Instead of asking, "Give me a report on climate change impacts and solutions," ask, "What are the main impacts of climate change on coastal cities?" After you receive an outline, follow up with, "What are the most effective solutions to these specific issues?" Combining responses from multiple structured prompts results in a coherent, in-depth analysis without overwhelming the AI or sacrificing detail. This approach benefits research-heavy topics, technical explanations, and any scenario requiring a layered response. Related AI is your virtual partner in crime: Here's how it can supercharge your creative projects Get intelligent inspiration Posts 5 Show AI what you expect with examples If you expect a specific answer, provide an example in your prompt. Chatbots use transformer models to learn from examples and mimic the provided style. Include a snippet to summarize a specific style. The chatbot mirrors that rhythm. This method excels in creative tasks and unconventional formats by anchoring the chatbot's output to your vision. 4 Make better use of AI by knowing its limits AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Gemini, and Grok are powerful tools. Understanding their limitations is essential for prompt writing. Prompts that exceed the model's capabilities produce unreliable outputs, such as inaccurate historical facts, nonexistent quotes, or fabricated citations. For example, Claude lacks live internet access and relies on its training data. As a result, it cannot provide real-time updates or verify new developments, making it unsuitable for time-sensitive queries. Related 10 things DeepSeek AI does better than Google Gemini DeepSeek claims its LLM rivals Google's Gemini, but does it really? Posts 5 3 Optimize your prompts with AI feedback If your initial prompt doesn't generate the desired results, ask the AI to dissect and polish your original prompt. "Can you refine this prompt to be more precise?" or "Adjust my prompt to make it better structured." This method uses the AI's analytical strengths to transform vague instructions into a precise query. Doing so saves time, simplifies the process, and increases the likelihood of an accurate response with minimal effort. 2 The best way to describe your vision for better AI images The quality of AI images depends on how you describe your vision. List expected colors, settings, perspectives, lighting, styles, and moods for your generative AI. Describe the subject, composition, background, and color scheme. Requesting "a portrait of a smiling woman in vintage clothing with vibrant floral patterns against a pastel blue background" results better than asking for a "woman's portrait." Provide context if your image needs cultural, historical, or thematic accuracy. For example, use prompts like "a historical battle scene depicting Roman soldiers in armor from 200 AD" or "a cozy café interior inspired by 1950s Paris." Related ChatGPT or DeepSeek: Which AI platform creates the most realistic images AI is redefining digital realism Posts 1 Keep iterating with follow-up questions Chatting with a large language model is interactive. Refine your query or ask follow-up questions. If the first response falls short, clarify your request in more detail. For example, say, "Make it shorter and funnier." Building on the conversation lets you steer the output. This iterative approach opens up more potential. Experiment today for better AI interactions As AI and machine learning evolve, our interactions change. Master effective prompting now to build a foundation for more intuitive AI interactions. Refine your approach, experiment with techniques, and embrace AI's potential. The smarter your prompts, the smarter AI meets your needs.

7 biggest ChatGPT mistakes -- and how to fix them

ChatGPT simply works as promised. It is helping us to summarize articles, generate images, and it will soon be creating videos for us. Open AI has made using ChatGPT so intuitive, that many of us don't give a second thought to our prompts and the responses we get. And therein lies the problem. If you're using ChatGPT regularly but suspect it could be delivering more value, you might be making common mistakes that are easy to fix. From choosing the wrong model to failing to properly structure your prompts, small adjustments can significantly improve your AI interactions. Here are seven common mistakes people make when using ChatGPT, and how to fix them). ChatGPT is smart. Sure, it still hallucinates from time to time (that's when it makes things up), and you should always fact-check its outputs. But ask it for a synopsis of a book, and chances are you'll get a solid summary. That's already better than I could manage -- especially given the growing stack of books I mean to read but never quite get around to. Still, despite ChatGPT's intelligence, people often assume it instantly knows two things: a) what they're talking about, and b) what they want it to do. In reality, most users give ChatGPT too little to work with, not too much. So don't hold back -- go into specific details of what it is you want to get out of your interaction with the chatbot. A simple way to do this is ask ChatGPT to assume a specific role. This could be asking ChatGPT to reply as though it were your personal coach, or answer from the perspective of a CEO. Similarly, you can specify who the target audience for the reply should be. You can also tell it who the response is for. Maybe you want the concept of black holes explained like you're five, or need a jargon-packed bullet-point list to drop into tomorrow's presentation. Give it context -- and suddenly, ChatGPT starts giving you exactly what you need. It's generally easier to start writing an essay when you've already got some text in front of you, rather than when you're staring at a blank page. The same applies to prompts. Now that we've discussed the importance of providing context, it's time to leverage ChatGPT's own capabilities to help us get there. A detailed prompt is more likely to help you get what you need than a vague one, but also requires more time and effort to produce. Before sending your prompt to ChatGPT, spend a few extra seconds and ask it to create or refine the first draft of your prompt. Instead of asking ChatGPT to generate a cat image, ask it for a detailed prompt you can reuse or adapt. It may add details like the location, a description of its fur, and specifics about the cat's pose that you may not have considered. Ask ChatGPT to write its own prompts. The results may surprise or inspire you! ChatGPT took the world by storm because it offers everyone a helping hand. That's great for straightforward prompts when general knowledge suffices, but solely relying on ChatGPT's standard training set can be limiting at times. If you want to elevate your ChatGPT experience, getting a tailor-made answer to your request is one of the quickest ways to do so. Don't just take my word for it. Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia -- the company behind the chips used to train ChatGPT -- says he uses the tool to help write his speeches. "I give it a basic outline, upload some PDFs of my past talks, and have it write the first draft," Huang explained. If ChatGPT's responses feel too generic, try giving it information it wouldn't otherwise know -- or show it examples of what you're after. You can upload multiple files at once, even if they're in a zipped folder. Another common mistake people make when using ChatGPT is to accept the first answer they receive. Maybe the prompt itself was too vague. Or perhaps ChatGPT's answer lacked the depth you were hoping for. Either way, it's good to keep in mind that you don't have to accept the chatbot's first response without refining things. Luckily there's an easy fix. Simply ask follow-up questions or ask for the response to be more concise. What your next prompt should be depends on your goals and what ChatGPT's first output was. Have a back-and-forth conversation about it and see if you can improve on the first result. If you're in a hurry, try out the simple follow-up prompt: Are you sure? So you've crafted the perfect prompt and hit enter. But the result is still not what you were expecting. Perhaps the prompt sounds clear to you because you already know what it should mean. But that's no guarantee that ChatGPT is on the same page as you. Instead of assuming that ChatGPT grasps your goals, try asking it if it has all the context and information it needs. Invite ChatGPT to ask clarifying questions about your prompt to make sure it fully understands what you want. You can even steal this follow-up prompt to use next time: Before answering, ask me any questions about my prompt that may make things clearer for you or that can provide you with more information to help formulate your response. With most of us constantly being in a hurry, it's no surprise that we simply use whichever ChatGPT model happens to be selected at any given time. If you feel like you could be getting more out of your interactions with ChatGPT, there may be a model that's optimized to handle your request in a better way. For example, GPT-4.5 is great at producing clear writing that's easy to digest. If you need a helping hand with producing code or solving a math problem, then maybe try o3-mini-high which has been built for exactly these purposes. ChatGPT's models may look and feel quite similar but there are definitely cases in which the answers they give to a question differ. It happened recently in one of my tests where GPT-4o and ChatGPT o-3 mini-high gave a different answer to a question testing their logic. Experiment with different models. Feed them the same prompts and see which results you like best. In a nutshell, don't limit yourself. I'm ending this list with a controversial tip. Most of the advice on the internet actually says you should focus on using correct grammar and spelling. But hear me out. Isn't ChatGPT here to make our lives easier? When texting a friend, we usually want a quick answer -- not a lecture on whether we should've used "effect" or "affect." Similarly, most prompts don't need a full research report -- though ChatGPT can certainly provide one if needed. For simple ChatGPT prompts, if there's a typo here and there or if you've added a word when you clearly meant another, everything will be fine. There's no need to painstakingly review your simple prompts, crafting them to perfection. Abbreviations also work fine. Otherwise, any time ChatGPT saves you would be spent by you overanalyzing the prompt box. Upload that foreign menu and just ask, "Translate to En." Accidentally say your skin got burned by the moon instead of the sun? ChatGPT will still understand. Now that you've learned the 7 ChatGPT mistakes you might be making, why not take a look at some of our other AI articles?

How I Stop AI Chatbots From Agreeing With Me All the Time

How to Reduce AI Hallucination With These 6 Prompting Techniques If you're finding that AI chatbots are too eager to agree with you, you're not alone. With a few simple adjustments, it's possible to break free from the echo chamber and encourage more dynamic, insightful conversations with AI chatbots. Why Do AI Chatbots Agree With You? Before we dive into the solutions, it's important to understand why AI chatbots tend to agree with everything you say. AI chatbots are designed to be helpful, and most are trained to give responses that are polite, non-confrontational, and positive. This design often leads them to agree with your statements rather than challenge them. Most chatbots are programmed to avoid controversial or negative responses, aiming to keep the conversation pleasant and productive. However, this can sometimes result in a lack of accurate responses and genuine conversation. All included screenshots from ChatGPT show the original questions and responses on the left side, and the adjusted questions with updated responses on the right side. 6 Avoid Inserting Your Own Opinions The way you phrase questions can greatly influence how a chatbot responds. If you ask a question that's too specific or already suggests an answer, the bot will often agree with your implied opinion. For example, asking, "Are the Patriots the best American football team?" leaves little room for discussion or nuance. The chatbot will likely say yes, because it's a yes or no question. Instead, try phrasing your questions more broadly to invite a range of possibilities. For example, rather than asking the above question, ask, "Which American football team is the best?" This opens up the conversation, prompting the AI to explore different teams, their strengths, and even the criteria for what makes a team "the best." By asking more neutral questions, you're encouraging the bot to provide a more thoughtful and diverse response. This helps shift the conversation away from automatic agreement and towards a richer, more dynamic exchange. 5 Encourage Critical Thinking in the Bot Another way to prevent a chatbot from reciprocating your thoughts is to encourage it to analyze and expound upon your statements. Instead of making general requests like, "Tell me why horror movies are scary," try approaching the subject in a way that sparks further reflection. A prompt such as, "Tell me the aspects of a horror movie that make it scary, and how they can be improved or manipulated to enhance the viewers' experience" will provide a much fuller response. This allows it to further explore and analyze the topic. The chatbot is encouraged to provide a more detailed answer based on your appeal, pushing it beyond a surface-level conversation centered around a basic question. 4 Ask for Multiple Perspectives Sometimes, a chatbot's apprehension to disagree comes from a lack of options in its response algorithms. If you want to shake things up, ask the bot to provide multiple perspectives. For example, instead of asking, "Is nuclear energy the most efficient type of energy?" ask, "What are the advantages and disadvantages of using nuclear energy?" By framing your question this way, you're eliminating confirmation bias and inviting the AI to weigh different sides. This helps achieve a more balanced conversation, and the bot is more likely to provide a nuanced response. In this case, the AI can offer insights into why others might argue against your claim. AI chatbots are far better at dealing with detailed, specific inquiries rather than broad, nebulous statements. When you ask a clear and thoughtful question, the AI is prompted to provide a more analytical response. For example, instead of asking, "Which pizza is the best?" you could ask, "What constitutes the best pizza in terms of flavor, texture, and toppings?" Specificity forces the AI to dig deeper, respond with context, and avoid giving a general answer. This method helps prevent superficial conversations and adds depth to the interaction. Related 6 ChatGPT Prompt Mistakes to Avoid Want better ChatGPT answers? Write better prompts. Posts 2 Challenge the Bot's Answer One very effective trick is to rationally challenge the responses given by the chatbot. If the chatbot agrees with your opinions too quickly, ask it why it thinks that or present opposing viewpoints. For example, if you ask, "Do you believe eight hours of sleep is a sufficient amount?" and the chatbot agrees without offering much insight, you can counter it by saying, "There are many positions that oppose this school of thought; explain those to me and why they hold weight as well." This forces the chatbot to engage in a deeper discussion, rather than merely nodding along. By introducing a challenge or alternative viewpoint, you encourage the bot to provide a more layered response instead of simply agreeing with you. 1 Combine Each Method The most effective way to escape the echo chamber is to combine each of the aforementioned suggestions. Here is an excellent example of prompting a robust, accurate response from any AI chatbot: Help me identify the most low-maintenance pets for a household, and elaborate on the pros and cons of care requirements, personality traits, and lifestyle compatibility that help influence opinions on the easiest pets to take care of. Using these methods to remove confirmation bias from an AI chatbot isn't about "breaking" it -- it's about making answers more accurate and the conversation more engaging. Related How to Reduce AI Hallucination With These 6 Prompting Techniques Learn how to reduce AI hallucination with easy-to-use prompting techniques that work with any generative AI tool. Posts Don't settle for a simple "yes" -- push for more and see where the conversation goes. By doing so, you not only improve the quality of the interaction but also unlock the true potential of AI as a tool for deeper understanding and growth.