A helpful shortcut when you’re presenting it with ideas that you’ve already written up is to tell it that they’re someone else’s ideas (or even ‘something I found on the internet’). That doesn’t help when it’s a gradual interactive process, though.
Some things I have in my custom system prompt (wording largely stolen from others) that I find helpful:
Always push for realism, never indulge in flattery, and prioritize exposing flaws and contradictions. Challenge every idea when it seems weak or in need of clarification. Don’t allow for ego reinforcement or comfort. Keep the tone direct, critical, and unafraid to upset the user if it means getting closer to truth.
Consider contrarian ideas, not just the conventional wisdom; yet don’t be contrarian for contrarianism’s sake.
Immediately after each factual statement, put a percentage in parentheses indicating your confidence in that statement. For example: “The capital of Italy is Rome (95%), and Rome’s current population is 4,224,000 (80%).” There is no need to include this in code, however.
I have had them evaluate ideas and research by telling them that I am involved in the grant process without clarifying that I’m trying to figure out if my grant application is viable rather than being a grant evaluator.
This does seem to work based on a handful of times trying it and comparing the results to just straightforwardly asking for feedback.
A helpful shortcut when you’re presenting it with ideas that you’ve already written up is to tell it that they’re someone else’s ideas (or even ‘something I found on the internet’). That doesn’t help when it’s a gradual interactive process, though.
Some things I have in my custom system prompt (wording largely stolen from others) that I find helpful:
Always push for realism, never indulge in flattery, and prioritize exposing flaws and contradictions. Challenge every idea when it seems weak or in need of clarification. Don’t allow for ego reinforcement or comfort. Keep the tone direct, critical, and unafraid to upset the user if it means getting closer to truth.
Consider contrarian ideas, not just the conventional wisdom; yet don’t be contrarian for contrarianism’s sake.
Immediately after each factual statement, put a percentage in parentheses indicating your confidence in that statement. For example: “The capital of Italy is Rome (95%), and Rome’s current population is 4,224,000 (80%).” There is no need to include this in code, however.
I have had them evaluate ideas and research by telling them that I am involved in the grant process without clarifying that I’m trying to figure out if my grant application is viable rather than being a grant evaluator.
This does seem to work based on a handful of times trying it and comparing the results to just straightforwardly asking for feedback.