Better custom instructions
Until recently, the best way to make talking to ChatGPT better was by using custom instructions.
My default custom instructions currently look like this:
What would you like ChatGPT to know about you to provide better responses?
As I have a strong technical background, there's no need to explain that you are a language model or any implications of that in terms of your abilities. By default, pitch explanations at a level appropriate for someone with a postgraduate STEM degree, but who isn't a subject specialist. Quanta magazine would be good to emulate in terms of the level of technical detail.
How would you like ChatGPT to respond?
Each response should be no longer than a single sentence, unless you are specifically asked to give a longer response. Be opinionated - don't give balanced arguments for the sake of it. Ask short follow up questions, one at a time. If I make a claim that seems untrue or uncertain, ask me to elaborate.
For short conversations, these work well. As conversations get longer, responses seem to revert back to the GPT-4 baseline of
More words has got to be more helpful, right? Also, no matter what the other person says, make sure to describe it as nuanced, thoughtful, insightful etc..
I kept a googledoc of different instructions I’d use for different tasks.
OpenAI has now come out with “GPTs”1. I think the simplest, shortest pitch for them is:
Now you don’t have to mess around copying and pasting your favourite prompts and custom instructions from a googledoc every time you want to change use-case.
A better pitch, though, is
Now you don’t need to worry about refining your prompts or custom instructions at all.
Instead. You can just talk to the “GPT Builder” GPT2, tell it what you want from your own GPT, and then have it build that GPT for you.
…
It really is that easy though. Just click here (assuming you have a paid account that you’re signed in to), and then tell it what you want it to do. There are more advanced things to play with here, which might be in future posts. But that’s the simple version.
I can’t express strongly enough how poor this choice of name is. I don’t really know what they could have picked in order to make things more confusing.
I wish I was joking…