There are many hustle bros on social media who will tell you that they have the secret “prompts” and that you are doing it all wrong. To get their secret prompts you have to attend their “course” or pay them for their “prompt guidebook”.

I don’t think most people need prompt engineering courses. Yes, it takes time, and may be tricky initially, but it will get easier over time.

The mental model that works for me is to think of using ChatGPT (and other LLM) is to assume you have a new hire, who is very smart, but has only learned “off the books”.

You have to train the new hire over time to understand your questions, the way you work and what you are looking for.

1. Start with generic questions that are open-ended first, and then narrowing down to specific details helps. e.g. Tell me about the apprenticeship market in the US
2. Provide context: Narrow down the overview with some guardrails on what you want more off or even what you want less of. e.g. Tell me more about the BOL programs that support apprenticeship and government assistance.
3. Refine your prompt with nuances to help to direct the question. e.g. How many apprenticeship programs are registered and which job roles are the most at need of them.

Epilogue: I used Nightcafe studio to create the image above, with the prompt – Smart new hire. I am still figuring out AI bias and don’t know enough. I am a little concerned however and have a few questions.

1. It assumed I meant good looking smart blonde woman
2. Why did it not pick a person of color by default?
3. Is this the visual representation of “smart”?