Google releases two new free resources to help you optimize your AI prompts

To get the most out of the many readily available AI chatbots, you have to master the art of AI prompting. Figuring out exactly what to say to an AI chatbot to get the results you want can be challenging, however, so Google is trying to help. 

The company last week unveiled a new blog series with tips, tricks, and suggestions on how you can get the most out of Gemini for Google Workspace. Even though the series is intended to help working professionals navigate Google’s AI assistant in Workspace, you can apply the advice to almost any AI chatbot.

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The initial blog post explains what a prompt is, its importance when using a generative AI model, as well as a formula you can use to help build prompts. 

“To realize the full benefits of generative AI, you need to write effective prompts. But what exactly is a prompt? You can think of it as a conversation starter with your AI-powered assistant,” Google wrote in the blog post. 

There are four main areas users should take into consideration when writing a prompt, according to the blog post: the persona, which refers to who is asking for the information; the task, which is what you want the chatbot to do; the context, meaning any additional information the AI chatbot could use to carry out the task; and the format, or how you want the output to be structured. 

This prompt formula can be helpful for formulating an AI prompt for ChatGPT, Copilot, and other chatbots because it encourages you to include as much detail as possible. Detail is the key to getting the best results when using AI chatbots.

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If you don’t want to wait for the blog series and want dive into writing effective prompts right away, Google also shared a “Prompting guide 101″ ebook. The 45-page guide starts with general advice on writing effective prompts and proceeds to include prompt examples for specific working professionals’ roles spanning marketing, customer service, and more. While the ebook is also geared towards Gemini in Google Workspace users, the advice and prompts again have general applications across platforms. 

If you are looking to learn more about how to maximize using generative AI models in your workflow, there are plenty of free resources that walk you through the aspects of using AI at work. For help in finding which one is best for you, check out ZDNET’s list of best free AI courses.