ChatGPT has become one of the most widely used tools for writing, researching, summarizing, or generating ideas. But have you ever thought “This is not what I asked for.”, The problem is usually not in the AI, but in the prompt.
ChatGPT doesn't think, It doesn't interpret hidden intentions or guess what you have in mind. It responds exactly to how you phrase the question. That's why understanding which types of prompts work best—and which ones to avoid—makes a huge difference in the results.
How ChatGPT interprets prompts
ChatGPT processes text probabilistically: it analyzes the context, identifies patterns, and generates the most coherent response possible based on what you have asked for.
This involves three important things:
- It gives a lot of weight to the first instructions
- Interpret what you write literally
- It responds best when the objective is clear
If the prompt is ambiguous, the response will be too. If the prompt is clear, specific, and well-structured, ChatGPT often delivers surprisingly good results.
What type of prompts work best in ChatGPT
There are certain patterns that ChatGPT understands particularly well:
Clear and direct prompts
Simple sentences, with clear action verbs: summarizes, explains, analyzes, compares, generates…
Prompts with context
Stating what you need the information for helps a lot. It's not the same thing:
“Explain this concept to me” than “Explain this concept to a master's student in biology”
Prompts with limits
ChatGPT works best when you frame it:
- approximate extent
- output format
- technical level
For example:
“Summarize this text in 5 key points, using clear and technical language”
Iterative Prompts
ChatGPT improves significantly when you interact with it. If the results of the first prompt aren't what you expected, we'll adjust. Make changes, adapt a bit more, be more specific. The AI "knows" everything, but it struggles to retrieve information unless you ask it properly.
What is ChatGPT having trouble understanding?
Look, it's not that he has trouble understanding or not, it's that we need to give him the right instructions. He'll understand you, but he might not give you the answer you needed.
Imagine you need a book summary in 500 words or less. You say, "Summarize this book." It might give you a one-sentence summary (which isn't what you need) or a 2000-word summary... either way, the problem isn't with the chat program, but with your request.
That's why, let's say, ChatGPT has trouble understanding:
- Contradictory instructions: “Make a simple technical summary of this article”… because he doesn’t know what to give you anymore.
- Unsolicited objectives: If you don't ask for something, but you think it's implied in the prompt, we're telling you right now, no. No preconceived notions; everything should be crystal clear.
- Too many tasks on a single prompt. Let's just say it gets overloaded and leaves all the tasks somewhat unfinished.
- Don't be ambiguous.
Tips for improving results in ChatGPT
If you want to get the most out of it, apply these practical ideas:
- Define what you want before writing
- Add context whenever you can
- Control the format
- Break down complex tasks
- Adjust everything you need.
Learning to do this systematically is precisely what allows you to move from using ChatGPT "for testing" to using it as a real work tool. In fact, many researchers and professionals are delving deeper into these skills through specialized resources like this course on prompt engineering, which focuses on how to formulate better questions and adapt prompts according to the objective and the tool. Prompt Engineering Course.
Biotechnologist and biostatistician specializing in data analysis and artificial intelligence applied to research. Founder of Maxymia, combines science and technology to develop solutions and training in automation for the scientific field.
