AI: Expert reveals tips and tricks to get the most out of the system
AI or artificial intelligence has grown exponentially in usage over the past few years. The global AI market is valued at over $279 billion, an increase of around $80 billion in the last year alone, and is projected to increase a further 6x over the next 6 years.
While there are unlimited uses for AI, such as self-driving cars or automated personalized recommendations on streaming platforms, when it comes to content creation, some human involvement is still needed.
Sometimes it can be difficult to get the AI platform you’re using to understand what it is you want. Luckily, Ai Ching Goh, Co-Founder of AI-powered design tool Piktochart, has given her top tips to improve your prompts and make the most out of using AI in your work.
Be specific
Although it may sound obvious, being as specific as possible will help the AI model understand what you’re asking it to do. This doesn’t just mean an overview of your final goal.
Ching recommends thinking about the audience you want to target, any context surrounding the idea, the format (is it a blog post, a list, or an infographic for social media?) and if there’s anything you don’t want to be included. Adding potential sources that provide inspiration, or extra data will also be useful.
Unlike when you explain your concept to another person, AI won’t get overwhelmed by the amount of information you give, which means you can afford to explain exactly what you want, why you want it and who you want it for.
Allow for an evolving conversation
No matter how good your prompt is, it’s possible that you won’t get exactly what you’re after the first time around. Ching stresses that this is normal, and to adopt a back-and-forth conversation with the AI model, as if you’re talking to a real human, instead of giving up or starting again.
AI is constantly learning, and the only way it will improve is to be told what works and what doesn’t. Look at what the AI gives you after your first prompt and tell it what you like and what needs to be improved. It’s also helpful to explain why this is the case and refer back to any information provided in your original prompt if need be.
When you use a conversational tone with AI, it will begin to mimic how you think and phrase things, making its responses far more tailored to how you would write or create yourself. This means there will be fewer edits to make overall, resulting in a faster turnaround time.
Use role-play
It may seem strange, but asking the AI to imagine it’s something other than a piece of software can improve the responses you get and offer a new perspective. Ching outlines several ways in which you can use role-play in your prompts:
- Get the AI to give an opinion about your work from the viewpoint of different audiences (both your target and non-target demographic).
- Ask the AI to produce the work you want in a certain style, i.e. as a teacher, as a boss or as a blogger.
- Get the AI to explain information in an easier or more sophisticated way by changing your age, i.e., “explain this to me as if I’m an 8th grader.”
Additional useful tips from Ching
- Start with constraints, not freedom – constraints challenge the AI to innovate within a narrow scope, often producing more creative outputs.
- Emphasize emotion – emotional content often resonates more with audiences and can help avoid looking overly AI generated.
- Force prioritization – getting AI to rank or choose forces concise, impactful results. For example, you could ask which of the five infographics produced is more likely to go viral and why.
- Don’t be afraid to be unconventional – AI often defaults to safe, polished ideas, so using intentionally unusual prompts can lead to unique outcomes.
Commenting further on the advice, Ai Ching Goh, Co-Founder of Piktochart said: “The world of AI is an ever-growing landscape, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed if you’ve not used it before.
“By encouraging creators to explore beyond traditional methods, these tips help push the boundaries of what’s possible with AI. The result is innovative, captivating content that stands out in a crowded digital space.
“If you start to treat AI like a collaborator rather than just a tool, you open new avenues for creative thinking. This approach encourages more dynamic, nuanced prompts that result in richer, more human-like output.”
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