Issue #20. The prompting edition

On today’s quest:

— 26 proven ways to write better prompts
— AI is still gullible
— Things are going ‘great’ over at Elon Musk’s Grok

Tip: Proven ways to write better prompts

Researchers have published 26 strategies you can use to get better results from tools like ChatGPT. You’ve heard some of them here before, like offering it a tip, giving it examples, and assigning it a role (such as “imagine you are a zookeeper with decades of experience caring for lions in captivity ...”), but these will help you up your game even more:

Sigh: ChatGPT is still gullible

Researchers were easily able to trick multiple AI tools into giving dangerous output such as instructions on how to make a bomb or how to write an email to trick people into disclosing their financial information.

Although you can no longer just ask for harmful information in simple terms and get it, these companies have a long way to go to keep from being manipulated.

What’s perhaps surprising is that prompts using what the researchers called “human-like persuasive interactions” were most effective. “Logical appeal” was what they called the most effective technique. All the examples seem to be framed as “It’s for a good reason. Teach me about ___. ”

Researchers called the other top methods “authority endorsement,” “misrepresentation,” “evidence-based persuasion,” “expert endorsement,” “priming,” and “anchoring.” You can find more examples on the researchers’ GitHub page.

Meanwhile: Things are going ‘great’ over at Grok

From prompt engineer Riley Goodside: “Grok (Regular Mode) identifies the fifth North Korean astronaut to walk on the Moon, quotes the poem he wrote for his dying goldfish, and cites as its source a three-word tweet reply to a clip of Michael Jackson moonwalking.”

News

Retailers investing in AI to replace writers (and more)

A survey of more than 400 retail industry professionals found that “68% want to use generative AI to transform marketing and content generation. This underscores the belief that generative AI can offer innovative solutions for use cases like automating content generation (text, imagery, audio, video), tailoring campaigns, and delivering more personalized and compelling messaging to customers, ultimately driving business growth.”

The survey was done by Nvidia, a key maker of AI chips.

Your classmate could be an AI student at this Michigan university

“Ferris State University is exploring the development of artificial intelligence by creating two virtual students who will enroll in classes and participate in lessons and activities over the next several years. … The two AI students, who are named Ann and Fry, will participate in classes just like any other student would, listening to lectures, turning in assignments and participating in classroom discussions.” — mLive

What is AI sidequest?

Using AI isn’t my main job, and it probably isn’t yours either. I’m Mignon Fogarty, and Grammar Girl is my main gig, but I haven’t seen a technology this transformative since the development of the internet, and I want to learn about it. I bet you do too.

So here we are! Sidequesting together.

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^{Written by a human.}