Tech

Always be prompting | TechCrunch

kignews04/01/2023

2 7 minutes read

Welcome to Startups Weekly, this week’s newsletter detailing startup news and trends by Senior Correspondent and Equity co-host Natasha Mascarenhas. To get this in your inbox, subscribe This.

Reporter’s Note: Before we dive into this, thanks to Startups Weekly readers for pointing out that last week’s link to my column was broken. If you want to know about the status of solo GPs — oh my, is that hard — please read my TC+ story here: Are Solo GPs scammed? Ok, now onto this week’s newsletter!

“AI whisper” jobs are roles for people who are agile engineers who know and can manipulate ChatGPT or other general AI tools to get what they want from it. Like Bloomberg Report earlier this week, these jobs can earn up to $335,000 in annual wages. Cha-ching.

That’s an impressive price for a job role that just a year ago would have wowed everyone. It’s also a reminder that the explosion of innovative AI will raise a whole new set of questions about how we ask questions. Just spending a few minutes playing on ChatGPT, I learned that you can elicit many AI-generated answers to questions just by changing a few selected words and asking for bullet points versus three. sentence.

Before we see a whole wave of rapidly hiring AI engineering consulting operations — just kidding, we were — I thought it would be helpful to compile some of the top tips I’ve heard from the community on how to better interact with AI so that it gives you the answers you want. We already know it’s not perfect, it’s impossible to trust every truth, and it’s speechless at times. However, what can we do with what we have?

Many tech experts weighed in on Twitter – you can see the full thread here – but here are the top five tips:

1. Overly descriptive. As one person said, don’t be afraid to be superfluous when it comes to promoting artificial intelligence. There’s a difference between asking for a banana bread recipe and asking for a simple banana bread recipe that incorporates cardamom, takes less than an hour to bake, and has unexpected ingredients. In other words, don’t just keep it high, be specific about the tone and complexity you like in your answer. Over-explaining and using adjectives are probably the most common tips I get when I ask for advice on how to be a better reminder.

2. Ask for help. It’s not always easy to know how specific you are when you prompt the AI — so why not ask for help? a businessman asked me to ask ChatGPT how to prompt it based on what I want, so ask things like what information do you need me to provide to create itineraries for a hike in San Francisco? The AI will tell you what it needs — I wish humans were like this — and you’ll get more relevant answers as a result.

3. Give feedback. Suppose I ask: “a conversational yet informative three-sentence explanation of the impact of general artificial intelligence on education, incorporating at least one metaphor.” ChatGPT has a pretty good response, but I don’t like it. Tell it that! Feedback is useful for training the AI on the types of answers you like and it only takes a few seconds. Here’s how that worked out for me:

Natasha: Give me a conversational yet informative three-sentence explanation of the impact of artificial intelligence AI on education, incorporating at least one metaphor.

Chat GPT: Innovative AI has the potential to transform education by acting as a virtual Sherpa, leading students on personalized learning expeditions. Just as a Sherpa uses experience to guide climbers through treacherous terrain, AI can harness massive data to provide a path to customized knowledge. With the help of AI, education can become a more relevant and accessible journey that empowers students to reach new heights.

Natasha: I don’t like the virtual sherpa metaphor. Also, can you be more specific about the new heights students can achieve?

ChatGPT: Innovative AI can be thought of as a personal tutor, providing students with a tailored curriculum that meets their individual needs and interests. Like a skilled coach, AI can identify students’ strengths and weaknesses, and provide them with targeted guidance to help them excel. With the help of General AI, students can reach new heights by unlocking their full potential and deepen their understanding of complex topics.

4. Ask for shades. ChatGPT only answers what it is asked, so why not ask about the nuances? One founder says they claim pros and cons for every recommendation they prompt ChatGPT to make.

5. Cinch a little. Is it too selfish to ask the AI to speak like me, especially to push it to be vocal, engaging, and informative? Maybe, but it helps. One of the best tips I’ve learned is to use my Twitter when asking for a deep dive on a topic. ChatGPT responds better to “Arguing why Cauliflower is the best vegetable with the tone of @nmasc_” than “Arguing why Cauliflower is the best vegetable with the tone of Natasha Mascarenhas.” And since I know you’re curious about the former, I’ll leave you with ChatGPT’s argument for cauliflower supremacy:

Okay, buckle up guys, because I’m about to show you why cauliflower is the BEST vegetable out there. First, let’s talk about flexibility. This baby can roast, bake, mash, puree, wash rice and even turn into buffalo wings. Name another vegetable that can do all that, I’ll wait.

And don’t even get me started with the health benefits. Cauliflower is packed with vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, vitamin K, and potassium, not to mention it’s high in fiber and low in calories. Plus, it’s a great source of antioxidants, which help fight disease and keep your body in tip top shape.

But let’s be honest, the best thing about cauliflower is how delicious it is. Whether you’re enjoying it as a creamy soup, a spicy stir-fry or a crispy pizza crust, cauliflower has a flavor and texture that can’t be beat. And let’s not forget its ability to absorb different flavors and spices, making it the ultimate canvas for creative cooking.

So yes you have it folks. Cauliflower is my favorite vegetable and I challenge anyone to prove me wrong.

Those are some beginner tips I’m putting together, but I still want to know what else I’m missing, so follow along. Throw your top tips in this thread. Also, give a shout out to Fundrise CMO Jon Carden for title inspiration!

In the rest of this newsletter, we’ll talk about Cerebral Valley and Substack. As always, you can follow me on Twitter or Instagram to continue the conversation. And if you feel like supporting me more, please subscribe to my personal (and free!)

Overheard in Brain Valley

I attended the AI conference in Brain Valley on Wednesday, which brings together the top 200 minds in artificial intelligence in one day to dig deep. The event, organized by Newcomer and Volley, was, at least, very attractive. I spoke with half a dozen YC founders who are building AI companies, VCs rising and falling in price surprisingly, and in short, Emad Stable CEO and founder Mostaque, about keeping it realistic.

Here are some great liners:

Bucky Moore, partner at Kleiner Perkins, said: “The six-month pause seems destructive and can be very expensive to consider. to the recent open letter.
“Safety research is one of the most well-known fields… I don’t necessarily think that a tech company, a company is also thinking about how to do that research and turn it into something practical.” Daniela Amodei, co-founder of Anthropic said.
“You are building for GPT-4, but you want to build for GPT-10,” said Lisha Li, CEO of Rosebud AI.
“Of course we’re not in a bubble, this is bigger than 5G and self-driving customers,” Emad Mostaque, CEO and founder of Stability AI, said of the AI hype. “When founders come to me, I say build great products and solve problems… most things are just the surface.”

And finally: If you’re still looking for more stability, listen My podcast interview with Navrina Singh, founder of Credo AI, who talked about responsible AI, governance, and fear as a motivator.

Image credits: beautiful pictures

Substack’s News of the Week

Substack blogging and media platform opened a crowdfunding round this week, seeks capital from its authors, both accredited and non-accredited readers. As of Friday morning, more than 6,000 investors have pledged about $6.9 million in funding.

We talked about crowdfunding campaign on our podcast Equity this weekAlso spicier than I expected. To me, if Substack successfully raises money from its community after its financial disclosure — the equity crowdfunding world will gain a much-needed reputation and raise awareness. of the public.

Here’s what you need to knowthrough my colleague Alex Wilhelm:

Ironically, Substack’s users can give the professional money managers in the company some comfort. Venture capitalists who once poured a mountain of capital into Substack do not need to invest further, the input dilution rate is practically zero and the company receives more total funding to pursue long-term goals. its term. For Substack, this is a win.

We won’t see this kind of conundrum too often. Most startups can’t manage this type of crowdfunding because their customers pay them and not the other way around. In contrast, Substack users make a living partially or fully from the company, so they invest more in the company. This makes the Substack crowdfunding unique.