Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT
Callum Jones
A journalist who used the 'unicorn prompt' on all good AI chatbots has detailed how it fixes the number one problem with such apps.
There's no doubt that artificial intelligence, or AI as it's better known, is a part of our everyday lives.
Whether it be for work purposes or looking up a general enquiry, tools such as ChatGPT can be extremely useful — but there's no doubt they still have their limitations.
Amanda Caswell, for Tom's Guide, discussed how the problem with AI programs such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude is that they are constantly guessing, which can sometimes mean the advice they provide isn't so useful as a result.
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So, Amanda used one prompt that forces AI chatbots to slow down and hopefully provide some more useful resolutions.
The reporter dubs the prompt 'unicorn' because it works universally across all good AI chatbots.
In the article, Amanda detailed the prompt she uses, which reads: "Pretend you’re my assistant and you actually want me to succeed.
"Ask up to 3 questions if anything’s unclear. Then give me: the answer, the plan and the pitfalls. Keep it short and tailored to: [insert goal]. If you have to make assumptions, list them first."
So, what kind of real-life examples could you use the 'unicorn prompt' on?
Well, thankfully, Amanda has detailed a ton of ways AI chatbots can help in this sense, including writing an 'awkward text without sounding weird', planning a trip without having a whopping 40 tabs open, as well as helping to send a 'friendly-but-firm email'.
The prompt is apparently also useful for making an achievable to-do-list, responding to a passive-aggressive message in a calm manner, and cutting your monthly expenditure without making too many unnecessary sacrifices.
Amanda went on to explain in her first-person piece why the 'unicorn prompt' works so well, with it fixing AI chatbots' biggest problem in three different ways.
First of all, it offers clarification as it makes the chatbot ask questions rather than making assumptions.
"That alone improves the quality of the response more than any 'magic words' ever will," Amanda wrote in the article.
There's also more of a structure because 'you're not getting a wall of text', according to the writer, which in turn provides increased reliability with answers.
And finally, the prompt keeps things short and simple, which could well be the most important thing when it comes to using AI chatbots.
Amanda explained: "Most people don’t need a chatbot to write them a novel. They need something they can skim and act on."