How to get more from your GPT.

Every day over 60 million people jump online with ChatGPT and ask it to lend a hand with something. That’s a whole lot of prompts. Pretty much one for every person on the planet, just in March. This Robot thing... it’s a thing.

But how do you make the most of the Robot to help you make stuff awesome? We reckon it's easy (ish). You gotta know your Robot, grow your Robot and always bring your human to the Robot party. Here’s how.

#1 - Choose the right Robot

First things first, get the best possible Robot. GPT-3 was clever, but it did tend to go off on one, and can’t draw pictures. GPT-4o kicks its arse. It’s faster, more coherent and way more accurate. It moves the dial on Robot help from e-scooter to Private Driver.

Of course, the upgrade isn’t free (it’s about $30 a month). That’s why 95% of people are still using the basic bot. But it’s well worth the extra cash.

#2 – Give good prompts

The better you brief your Robot, the better job it can do. It's why “Prompt Engineer” is one of the fastest growing roles on Seek. But you don’t need to be a genius to talk to the Robot. Just know what you want to get out of it – and make your instructions clear.

Context, clarity and relevant detail are all things the Robot loves. If you want a picture of a penguin in a bathtub, just tell it that. If you need it for a get well soon card – tell it that bit too.

??#3 – Refine and tweak

You don't need to settle for the first response. Chances are it won’t be right. So it's time to jump into refining. The secret here is thinking about why you got what you got - so you know which bits to nudge in a better direction.

Tone not right? Ask for something more friendly, or more formal. Too many words? Give it a number “in 50 words”. Got a penguin picture fit for a three year old, but need one for a 15-year old’s card? Just give it some feedback and tinker…

We did a dance with six different penguins to get to this.

?#4 - Add some human

AI doesn't think like a human. It uses super clever statistics to work out the most likely answer for the thing you asked for. This means it can make mistakes. It also scrapes the internet for all the information it uses. Since the internet is full of rubbish, this can also mean it makes mistakes or finds weird stuff.

Everything needs a sense check. What feels right? What feels off? How many hands have seven fingers? If you’ve got a decent Robot you can also ask it to check its own work and even link back to its source material. But the most powerful element of any AI is the human in the loop.

#5 – Use your manners

This bit doesn’t matter so much to the Robot. It’s a Robot. It doesn’t care. But it feels so much better to explore stuff if you treat your Robot with respect. There’s science in it too, Anthropomorphising* the robot makes it feel like teamwork – you and your Robot, in this together, like Hiccup and Toothless, fighting dragons.

Ready to ride your robot? Remember Human in. Human out. And enjoy.

Riding a Robot is like driving a car. Its got all kinds of powers that you’ll never have and can get you where you’re going in double-quick time. But the nut behind the wheel is the most important part of the engine. You're the one in the driver's seat.

Think of it like robot sandwich – Human on the inputs, human refining the outputs – and every flavour of the internet served up in the middle for tea.

That’s what I reckon, what do you think?

*Anthropomorphising means treating non-human things like humans. I know this because I asked the Robot. It's also why Robot has a capital R.