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Ethan Mollick, one of the early adopters of AI models and the author of the book Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, shares four ground rules for working with AI:

  • Always invite AI to the table: familiarize yourself with its capabilities, understand the value it brings to your work, and recognize its limitations.
  • Be the human-in-the-loop: Make sure you check AI hallucinations by bring ing in your critical thinking skills and maintaining a problem-solving attitude.
  • Treat it like a person (but tell it what kind of person it is): "The default output of many of these models can sound very generic" (Mollick, 2024, pp. 57-58). By giving the AI a persona, defining who it is and what its area of expertise is, you can get more useful outputs.
  • Assume this is the worst AI you will ever use: As these models improve, their abilities expand. Keep an open-mind approach and be ready to learn the necessary skills to adopt the latest capabilities. 

 

Learn more about the Four Rules according to Ethan Mollick here.

The CIDI Framework

The CIDI framework, conceived by Gianluco Mauro, helps structure prompts and produce relevant outputs. CIDI stands for:

C - Context: provides the necessary background information about the task, the target audience, the desired tone, or any other relevant contextual factors.

I - Instruction: this is the core of your prompt - the specific question, instruction, or request that you want the AI to address. This should be clear, concise, and focused, providing the AI with a well-defined objective.

D - Details: specifies the type of response you expect from the AI, such as a paragraph of text, a list of recommendations, or a visual representation. This helps the AI understand the expected format and scope of the response.

I - Input: provides any additional data, documents, or other information about the intended use of the AI's response to help the AI tailor its response to your needs.

Here's an example of how the CIDI framework can be used in a prompt:

Context: You are a market analyst specializing in the Middle East region. The goal is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the latest trends and future directions in the travel industry, with a focus on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Instruction: Analyze the latest market trends from the past year and predict future directions for the travel industry in the GCC countries. Include data on consumer behavior and competitor performance.

Details: The summary will be used as a reference for businesses operating in the travel and hospitality sectors in the GCC region. It should be written in a clear, concise, and actionable style to help stakeholders make informed decisions. The analysis should be approximately 1000 words long and include the following elements:

  • Overview of the current state of the travel industry in the GCC region

  • Analysis of consumer behavior, including preferences, concerns, and spending patterns

  • Evaluation of competitor performance, highlighting key players and their strategies

  • Identification of emerging trends and potential growth areas

  • Recommendations for businesses looking to capitalize on the changing market landscape

Input: Use the following market reports and data sources:

  • GCC Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2021

  • Middle East Hotel Market Review Q4 2021

  • GCC Outbound Travel Market Report 2022

  • UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2021 Edition (Middle East section)

By using the CIDI framework, you can create a well-structured and comprehensive prompt that guides the AI to generate a response tailored to the specific needs and context of the Middle East travel industry.

Copy and Paste this prompt in your favorite GenAI model and explore the output that you receive. Here's a link to the output generated by Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

The OPRO Framework

Google DeepMind suggests using the OPRO framework which stands for Optimization by PROmpting.

OPRO uses a conversational approach to refine output where you can start with a general prompt and refine it as you go to get as close as possible to the result you have in mind.

Here's an example of how an OPRO framework can be used:

Initial Prompt

Let's work together on creating a comprehensive analysis of the travel industry in the GCC countries. We'll focus on recent trends and future directions. Can you start by giving me an overview of the current state of the travel industry in the GCC region?

Refined Prompt

That's a good start. Can you elaborate on the investments in tourism infrastructure? Also, let's move on to consumer behavior. What are the key trends you're seeing in traveler preferences and concerns?

Refined Prompt

This is great information. Let's focus on competitor performance now. Can you identify some key players in the GCC travel industry and highlight their strategies?

Keep refining your prompt until you get the output you are looking for.

Responses are generated by Claude 3.5 Sonnet.