Currently, you tell ChatGPT what you want, then take what it gives. If you’re prudent, you’ll edit that. If you’re advanced, you might adjust the prompt and retry, throw on some custom instructions, or use handcrafted prompts sourced online. And if you’re really clever, you’ll ask the AI to write the prompt to ask itself. Yet after all that, the writing quality is almost always stilted anyway!
I don’t think that summarizes best practice. I think it’s an important step to ask the AI to ask you to clarify the argument and needs of your writing. You don’t want a one-way conversation.
Yeah, that’s good point. I was modeling stratifications of lay-usage I’m aware of; treating ChatGPT like a prose dispenser. But if I were to write a second edition of this post, I would include your point.
I think people know to turn AI’s generative capabilities towards selection (ie, “edit this”). What you’ve described seems like: instead of turning AI’s capability towards selection execution, its towards the selection process, (think, “working in the business” vs “working on the business”; the ‘business’ here is ‘improving the writing’). Ie, you let the AI help you gain taste for what you even mean to say, and what you think is worth elaborating on or pruning away.
In any case, I think that builds naturally on the generation/selection framework established in this essay.
I don’t think that summarizes best practice. I think it’s an important step to ask the AI to ask you to clarify the argument and needs of your writing. You don’t want a one-way conversation.
Yeah, that’s good point. I was modeling stratifications of lay-usage I’m aware of; treating ChatGPT like a prose dispenser. But if I were to write a second edition of this post, I would include your point.
I think people know to turn AI’s generative capabilities towards selection (ie, “edit this”). What you’ve described seems like: instead of turning AI’s capability towards selection execution, its towards the selection process, (think, “working in the business” vs “working on the business”; the ‘business’ here is ‘improving the writing’). Ie, you let the AI help you gain taste for what you even mean to say, and what you think is worth elaborating on or pruning away.
In any case, I think that builds naturally on the generation/selection framework established in this essay.