These are a couple of notes and prompts I collected while using GPT in a research and writing project.
These are a couple of notes and prompts I collected while using GPT in a research and writing project.
Setup
I am currently using GPT mainly through the “text generator”-plugin for Obsidian. It‘s not perfect and the templates are currently (for me) a bit buggy but it works well enough.
One example process I‘ve been using: OCR-ing a page with the phone → pasting the text it into Obsidian → generating a first summary in bullet points through GPT → editing to taste.
Research
Summaries
Give me a summary
Give me a summary in [number] sentences
This is pretty straightforward but GPT is actually not bad at generating summaries. Copy in the text or paragraph and add one of the above and there you go.
So far I‘ve used this approach to generate a first drafts for executive summaries and short summaries for notes in my Obsidian Vault.
Caution GPT will still make mistakes and most likely miss arguments you might find especially important. Always edit, never copy.
Simplify
Simplify this text
Explain this text to me as if I am [number] years old
Make the content very clear and easy to understand
You can ask GPT to break down a more complex paragraph from a paper you have trouble understanding. In my experience it works roughly 90% of the time. It‘s definitely not perfect but may help in cutting through dense writing.
Caution GPT may appear smart but isn‘t able to actually understand the writing. Nuance and arguments might get lost in translation.
Writing
Generate Headlines
Suggest some headlines
Suggest some headlines in the style of [publication]
Hate writing headlines? Let GPT do some of the heavy-lifiting. Paste the text, ask for headlines and get some siggestions back. Again, edit carefully. You can also modify the output by adding adjectives like snappy, short or scientific.
GPT is also surprisingly good at copying the style of publications be that Bloomberg or the New York Times.
Simplify your writing
Simplify this text
Explain this text to me like I am [number] years old
Make the content very clear and easy to understand
This works in similar fashion as a summary. With the added benefit of GPT attempting to break down more complex explanations. Again, simply paste the text and add one command at the end.
Caution GPT may appear smart but isn‘t able to actually understand the writing. Edit accordingly and treat the model as you would anyone else‘s writing suggestions.
Sound more eloquent
Make me sound more eloquent
This is for the lazy ones. GPT is actually pretty good at rephrasing paragraphs and sentences (or at least give you a second option). Prefect for some light copy-editing or gap-filling.
Copy your text, add the prompt and check the output. You can even drop in bullet-points and let the model fill out the gaps.
Caution GPT may appear smart but isn‘t able to actually understand your writing. Edit accordingly and treat the model as you would anyone else‘s writing suggestions.
Further Questions
What are some interesting questions to continue this disucssion?
This one is more experimental. In short GPT will attempt to generate a number of question based on the provided text. Some might be helpful for helping you further flesh-out your arguments while some might turn out rather boring.
Caution GPT tends to generate rather obvious questions and has a somewhat disturbing prevalence towards “how might wes…”. Consider yourself warned.
The Limits of GPT
Every technology has its limits. Here are some things I found with GPT.
Sources
GPT is notoriously bad with sources. Ask for some and it will simply invent citations and references. It‘s not a search or even knowledge engine. Never treat it like one.
Structure
Caution GPT won‘t safe you from writing bad arguments or badly structured articles. Yes, you can generate whole articles through the interface but only if you want to arrive at the same SEO-mush as everyone else.