When working with generative AI, you will need to learn to create an effective prompt, or the instructions you give to the AI. While the tools discussed in this guide are able to answer simple questions, you can get better results by using prompt engineering, which helps the AI better understand what you want. There are several considerations to make when creating a prompt. You need to think of the context the AI has, the audience you want the response written for, the format you want your response in. When writing your prompt, consider the CLEAR method, developed by Leo Lo, a librarian and professor at the University of New Mexico.
Concise: Keep your prompt clear and straightforward. The more you write, the more the AI has to interpret and the more room for error.
Logical: Your prompt should be written in a way that makes sense. If you were to give your prompt to a colleague or classmate, would they be able to make sense of it?
Explicit: Be specific in what you are looking for from the AI. Remember, the AI doesn't know what you haven't told it.
Adaptive: After your first prompt, read the response and adjust your prompt as necessary. You may need to put in a few different prompts to get the result you are looking for.
Reflective: Reflect thoughtfully on the answer the AI gave you. Is the information current and accurate? Does the answer make sense to you? How could you adjust your prompt to get a better result?
The following image is an example of using AI to check a citation in APA format. Notice how the APA citation still has an incorrect format after verifying with the AI, Claude:
If you missed it, the title of an article in APA needs to be sentence case, not title case. Claude 'knows' this, as it is mentioned in the list for APA format, but it is not corrected.
The example does not mean that AI does not know the correct APA format. However, how you are prompting it factors in. The prompt was not a good prompt to get what was needed--a correct APA citation. Rewriting the prompt to be more explicit, gave a better result:
Make sure you are always checking any citation generation for accuracy.
For more information on prompt engineering:
Unlocking the Secrets of Prompt Engineering
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When working with generative AI, you will need to learn to create an effective prompt, or the instructions you give to the AI. While the tools discussed in this guide are able to answer simple questions, you can get better results by using prompt engineering, which helps the AI better understand what you want. There are several considerations to make when creating a prompt. You need to think of the context the AI has, the audience you want the response written for, the format you want your response in. When writing your prompt, consider the CLEAR method, developed by Leo Lo, a librarian and professor at the University of New Mexico.
Concise: Keep your prompt clear and straightforward. The more you write, the more the AI has to interpret and the more room for error.
Logical: Your prompt should be written in a way that makes sense. If you were to give your prompt to a colleague or classmate, would they be able to make sense of it?
Explicit: Be specific in what you are looking for from the AI. Remember, the AI doesn't know what you haven't told it.
Adaptive: After your first prompt, read the response and adjust your prompt as necessary. You may need to put in a few different prompts to get the result you are looking for.
Reflective: Reflect thoughtfully on the answer the AI gave you. Is the information current and accurate? Does the answer make sense to you? How could you adjust your prompt to get a better result?
The following image is an example of using AI to check a citation in APA format. Notice how the APA citation still has an incorrect format after verifying with the AI, Claude:
Is the following citation citation in correct APA 7th edition format: Digby, R. A. R., Gillett, N. P., Monahan, A. H., & Cole, J. N. S. (2021). An Observational Constraint on Aviation‐Induced Cirrus From the COVID‐19‐Induced Flight Disruption. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(20), e2021GL095882-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095882
Yes, the citation is in correct APA 7th edition format. It includes:
The only minor note is the "n/a" after the page range, which appears to be from the journal's online publication details.
If you missed it, the title of an article in APA needs to be sentence case, not title case. Claude 'knows' this, as it is mentioned in the list for APA format, but it is not corrected.
The example does not mean that AI does not know the correct APA format. However, how you are prompting it factors in. The prompt was not a good prompt to get what was needed--a correct APA citation. Rewriting the prompt to be more explicit, gave a better result:
Reformat the following citation to be in APA 7th edition format: Digby, R. A. R., Gillett, N. P., Monahan, A. H., & Cole, J. N. S. (2021). An Observational Constraint on Aviation‐Induced Cirrus From the COVID‐19‐Induced Flight Disruption. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(20), e2021GL095882-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095882
Digby, R. A. R., Gillett, N. P., Monahan, A. H., & Cole, J. N. S. (2021). An observational constraint on aviation‐induced cirrus from the COVID‐19‐induced flight disruption. Geophysical Research Letters, 48(20), e2021GL095882. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095882
Changes made:
Make sure you are always checking any citation generation for accuracy.
