6 Skills You Need to Become an Expert Prompt Engineer

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6 Skills You Need to Become an Expert Prompt Engineer

The outputs AI gives you (copy, images, code) are only as good as the inputs you give it. AKA your prompts.

Well constructed prompts are so important for utilizing generative AI tools like ChatGPT, they've given rise to an entirely new career - prompt engineering.

And with professional AI prompt engineering jobs going for $175,000 to well over $300,000 per year, it's become one of the hottest gigs on the market. ZDNET senior editor, David Gewirtz, put together an in-depth list of six different skills and explains why you need them to become an expert prompt engineer.

Skill #1: Understand AI, machine learning, and natural language processing
Skill #2: Define problem statements clearly and specify detailed queries
Skill #3: Be creative and develop your conversational skills
Skill #4: Learn about writing and art styles, and build domain expertise
Skill #5: Develop scripting and programming skills
Skill #6: Build up your patience (and sense of humor)

Now, even if you're not making a career change, this list will help you create better prompts. Whether its for writing copy, research, or art generation, incorporating just one of these skills into your skill stack will make you a more powerful AI marketer.

Full List

Elon Musks 'Future of AI' Round Table

This past Wednesday, Elon Musk hosted a Twitter Spaces talk with a bipartisan pair of U.S. House members focused on the future of artificial intelligence. With a wide-range of viewpoints, it was a thought- provoking discussion with Musk saying he believes digital superintelligence (AI smarter than any human - at anything) will exist in the next five or six years.

Rep. Ro Khanna suggested the government create an AI regulatory agency like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whose officials “really know what they’re talking about.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher disagreed, expressing concern that the agency would not keep pace with the rapid change in technology. He proposed that oversight of AI regulations requires “a more dynamic regulatory process with the technology like this, where the pace of change is so quick.”

Citing China as one of main reasons for his position, he added, "one of the biggest obstacles to AI regulation outside of China is a concern that China will not regulate AI. And will then get ahead."

For business owners and marketers, it's essential to keep an eye on where regulation is going. This proactive approach gives you a competitive advantages. But it also helps to address any legal and compliance matters before you get a letter from the FTC, or worse...

Full Recording

Prompt of the Week

An AI prompt for marketers is a text input designed to guide an AI like ChatGPT in generating creative marketing ideas and copy. It helps you leverage AI to enhance your campaigns and decision-making processes.

In this past weeks Copy Accelerator AI training, 'The Inbox Automator' , our team shared a powerful prompt for email marketers. One that can help you generate an endless amount of attention grabbing subject lines.

This monster promp is almost three pages long so we couldn't fit the entire thing in this newsletter.

But here's sneak preview:

Unraveling AI

Subscriber Submitted Question: "How do I stop ChatGPT from starting copy off with questions? So irritating!"

Our Answer: It's all about "priming" the AI with the right examples and directions. Examples give ChatGPT a clear, simple map to follow. They show the AI exactly where you want to go. So, instead of saying, "Write me a persuasive ad," you could say, "Write me an ad like the 'They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano' ad by John Caples." To go step further, paste the actual ad text and ask ChatGPT to analyze it first before writing in the same stycle.

Another example, if you want ChatGPT to start your copy with an authoritative statement, you could prime it by saying, "Write copy that begins with a bold assertion about our product's unique selling point like this <insert example copy>"

According to OpenAI’s list of best practices for prompt engineering, you can use “leading words” to nudge the model towards an output. For instance, give the AI the first couple of words you’d like to see in the ad and it will fill in the rest.

OpenAI Best Practices for Prompt Engineering

Long story short, it's as simple as telling ChatGPT exactly what you want and providing it with real examples to analyze.

Tool to Try

Character.ai - Character.ai is bringing to life the science-fiction dream of open-ended conversations and collaborations with AI chatbots. Based on custom large language models, you can talk to a hundreds of different characters like Elon Musk, Super Mario, and the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates.

Character.ai took the world by storm with over 1.7M installs in its first week available to the public, and it's already the the second most popular AI chat website with 281.4M visits in May.

AI Marketers group member Damon Niquet wrote a must read deep dive into the platform and how it can give copywriters an edge. Because soon, it could allow you to write in the exact voice of your client - something that normally takes years to perfect.

Plus, how marketing agencies could launch an entire new revenue stream by selling their own chatbots as a service.

You can read the full post here

In the comments of the post, Damon posted an additional video walkthrough of Character.ai. If you want to see these character chatbots in action and how to use them, check it out.

In the News

Open AI Launches ChatGPT Code Interpreter

ChatGPT Plus took things to the next level by integrating a code interpreter into its model. This allows ChatGPT to run code, optionally with access to files you've uploaded, and provide assistance with a range of tasks such as analyzing data, creating graphs, editing files, and performing mathematical calculations.

To get started with the code interpreter, ChatGPT Plus users can visit their settings, click on their name, select beta features, and toggle the features they'd like to try. Over the course of the next week, the code interpreter will be made available to all Web ChatGPT Plus users via the beta panel in the settings.

OpenAI Code Interpreter — What Non- Programmers Need to Know

YouTuber 'Productive Dude' recorded a great video showcasing what code interpreter is capable of, including using it to turn links into QR codes, transform data into a visual maps, animate a photo as a gif, create a snake game, and more.

Shopify Announces AI Sidekick

Shopify, one of the leading e-commerce companies, is joining the growing number of companies looking to implement AI technology into its business. Titled Sidekick, the new service will provide entrepreneurs with a round-the-clock assistant to answer any questions about business, as well as providing advice and insight.

The reveal of Sidekick came in a new video hosted by CEO Tobi Lütke. He explains that the feature grew out of the decision to give users a “competent” direct line of communication that’s available 24 hours a day and can answer questions about running a business. “Sidekick will have the answers that are specific to your business,” he explained. “It is built for the purpose of helping with your entrepreneurial journey.

Mind Fodder

Reddit user u/williampett shared this screenshot of his conversaion with Snapchat's built in AI, My AI. In realtime, My AI placed an ad based on it's conversation with Willian. A bit wonky right now, but imagine how ultra targeted ads could get with AI chatbots?

Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

The AI Marketers

p.s. Need A-List copy delivered at unprecedented speed? Three of the world's top copywriters have joined forces and are using the power of GPT-4 to write high-converting ads, emails, and VSL's.

Discover how you and your business can leverage them at https://www.calabs.ai/ or email Stefan directly at stefan@calabs.ai.

p.p.s If you're not already a member of our free AI Marketers Facebook group, you can join our rapidly growing community here.