Quote 💬
“The Best Way to Get Better at Photography? Take More Photos!”
Practice Makes Perfect ☑️
Humans learn through feedback—both from failure and success. Trying repeatedly develops new abilities faster than theoretical study alone. This concept is inspired by Atomic Habits by James Clear, specifically the segment discussing “the value of trial, error, and experimentation.”
Photography 📸
Professor Jerry Uelsmann conducted an experiment at the University of Florida. He divided his photography class into two groups:
- Quantity group: graded solely on volume of photos produced
- Quality group: graded on one perfect photograph
The quantity group spent the semester experimenting and refining their process. The quality group deliberated extensively or procrastinated. By semester’s end, the quantity group produced “all of the best photos.” The lesson: “Learning requires trial, error, and deliberate practice.”
Prompt Engineering 🗣️
Prompt engineering is discovering inputs yielding useful results in natural language processing. LLMs represent emerging technology requiring experimentation to master.
Procrastiworking 🙉
I’ve been using ChatGPT while “procrastiworking” and achieving effective prompts after months of experimentation. The iterative process of prompt refinement has proven essential.
Analysis 🔬
Key findings from ChatGPT conversations:
- Context matters: Providing background allows novel, unique responses
- Request variations: Asking for multiple responses offers options
- Initial results felt formulaic: Responses contained “pre-packaged and boring” introductory sentences
- Iteration improved results: Re-prompting the AI produced better output
- Narrative injection worked: Adding storylines enhanced creativity
Takeaways 💭
Recommended prompt techniques:
- Provide background context or request interesting personas
- Ask for multiple responses and expand favorites
- Inject narrative elements into conversations
Recommended Resources:
- TLDR Newsletter
- The Rundown AI Newsletter
- Built with AI
What prompting techniques have worked best for you? Share below!