I stopped asking ChatGPT questions and started giving it missions and suddenly the AI seemed way more motivated to help me

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AI on a quest

ChatGPT
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Getting a good response from ChatGPT when you have a simple request isn't hard, but if you are looking for more than just a simple piece of trivia or basic clarification, it's a good idea to consider more than just the keywords you'd use in a Google search.

Getting the kind of answer you want from the AI has the feeling of cajoing a bright but aloof teenager, or finessing a prickly artist to follow your instructions. My instinct has always been to act like ChatGPT is a busy librarian and be polite and respectful with my queries, asking things like, “What are some good rainy day activities for toddlers?” “Can you explain the difference between cold brew and iced coffee?” “How do you carve a radish to look like a rose?"

Instead of saying, “Can you help me plan a romantic date in this area on Saturday with this budget?” I wrote: “Your mission is to make my wife fall in love with me all over again after going to this area on Saturday with this much money in my pocket."

Questing

Whatever the reason, asking ChatGPT to go on a mission also seemed to open the AI to think about the bigger picture. Instead of having to coach it every step of the way in a complex request, it was able to grasp more of the intent behind my prompt. Not to say it wandered off topic. The mission's focus and goals were central to its answers. And it reshaped the response from answering a question to completing a quest.

AI models like ChatGPT don't actually have motivations, of course. But advanced text prediction can at least mimic the appearance of caring. It's a pattern to follow in how it frames both its hunt for information and how to share the information. An LLM can't be enthusiastic, but it sure can fake it.

The mission framing is not dissimilar to the also useful tactic of telling the AI to take on a role. Asking it to "act as a productivity coach” works better than asking for productivity tips, but telling the AI that its mission is to make you so productive that you can start your weekend early garnered my personal favorite guide to staying on task.

The natural response to AI chatbots usually falls into two camps. Either we treat them like they are way more human than is the case, or we go the other way and use prompts that may as well be what you'd type into a search engine.

I’m not saying this is some ultimate hack that unlocks the AI's secret power. But I am saying it helps me get better answers, faster. And it makes the whole process a lot smoother, like I'm directing a movie scene, not interviewing a robot.

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Eric Hal Schwartz
Eric Hal Schwartz
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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.

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