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Generative AI

A guide on current topics in generative AI including glossary, resources, and more.

Prompt Writing for GenAI

Prompt writing for Gen AI involves crafting clear and concise instructions to elicit specific responses from the language model.  Users provide input in the form of a prompt, guiding the AI to generate text that aligns with their intended purpose.  Effective prompt writing considers the model's capabilities and nuances, maximizing the chances of obtaining better outputs.

Prompt Writing Tips for Text-based AI

  • Be specific- clearly define what you want -topic, format, length, audience, tone, etc.
  • “Act as if”-Ask the AI to take on a specific role or persona to shape the response.
  • Specific output-tell the AI what kind of output you want—list, paragraph, table, summary, etc.
  • Use “do” and “don’t”-“Do include statistics. Don’t use technical jargon.”
  • Use examples- “Here’s a product description I like. Can you write one like this for a different product?”
  • Build on previous prompts- Use follow-ups to refine or expand the response.
  • Correct and give feedback- “This is too formal. Can you rewrite it in a more casual tone?”
  • Ask for assistance on prompts- “I want to write a prompt to generate a social media caption. Can you help me phrase it?”

See Also:

Harvard University's "Getting started with prompts for text-based generative AI"

Leo S. Lo's article "The CLEAR path: A Framework for Enhancing Information Literacy through Prompt Engineering"

 

Prompt Writing Tips for Image-based AI

Prompt Writing tips for Image-based:

  • Pay particular attention to copyright issues surrounding AI-generated images
  • Consider AI’s limitations AI image-based tools can add strange artifacts to your images, particularly when dealing with people or places. Look for things like bizarre expressions on the faces of people and animals, contorted bodies, additional fingers on hands

See Also:

 Getting started with prompts for image-based Generative AI tools | Harvard University Information Technology

Tools for prompting Copilot

 

When using UHD Microsoft Copilot, consider these prompting tools:

 

To learn more on Copilot prompts:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/learn-about-copilot-prompts-f6c3b467-f07c-4db1-ae54-ffac96184dd5