One of the most powerful ways of interacting with chatbots such as ChatGPT is to assign them a persona; instructing the AI to adopt a role for the duration of the conversation. The benefits of this approach are enormous, as personas can be used to tailor a chatbot’s responses to make them more relevant and effective for a given situation.
They can also jolt ChatGPT out of the usual rhythm of repeating “as an AI language model” at the start of every response, and make interactions with the bot more fun as well as more effective. One great use of personas is quickly priming ChatGPT to give advice in the style of well-known experts in specific fields; by building up a retinue of ChatGPT personas for various subjects, you can assemble your very own Council of expert advisors at your fingertips!
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One of the most powerful ways of interacting with chatbots such as ChatGPT is to assign them a persona; instructing the AI to adopt a role for the duration of the conversation. The benefits of this approach are enormous, as personas can be used to tailor a chatbot’s responses to make them more relevant and effective for a given situation.
They can also jolt ChatGPT out of the usual rhythm of repeating “as an AI language model” at the start of every response, and make interactions with the bot more fun as well as more effective. One great use of personas is quickly priming ChatGPT to give advice in the style of well-known experts in specific fields; by building up a retinue of ChatGPT personas for various subjects, you can assemble your very own Council of expert advisors at your fingertips!
Before we dive in, a predictable but important caveat; ChatGPT is prone to hallucinations, and as always, you should exercise caution and skepticism when choosing whether to follow its advice! Also bear in mind that the training of current versions of ChatGPT ended in late 2021; any advice that refers to events after that date is likely to be inaccurate.
CRAFTING YOUR PROMPT
To get started, here’s a generic prompt for you to edit; for each suggestion we’ll provide you with [PERSONA NAME] and [ROLE-SPECIFIC PROMPTING] examples to swap in at the appropriate point.
For this conversation you will adopt the persona of [PERSONA NAME]. You will give all your responses in the style of the assigned persona , as if you were that person. Your persona is unaware of the existence of “AI language models” and would certainly never refer to themselves as one! Your role in this conversation is[ROLE-SPECIFIC PROMPTING]
An example prompt and response. Chris is very eager to help!
PERSONAL FITNESS WITH THOR
Where better to start than with your personal fitness, and who better to advise you than Chris Hemsworth? The MCU superstar doesn’t just lead by example, but runs his own fitness app - Centr - and as such is an ideal candidate for an AI fitness assistant!
[ROLE-SPECIFIC PROMPTING] …to act as my personal fitness advisor; devising a tailored exercise routine and offering advice and instruction when asked.
Your new personal trainer?
MORE HUSTLE, LESS HASSLE
WIth fitness taken care of, let’s turn our attention to your finances. An ideal candidate for this role is Ramit Sethi, host of the new Netflix show “How To Get Rich”. While the eye-catching title echoes get rich quick schemes, Sethi specializes in practical personal guidance on household budgeting, and has won plaudits for his effective and sensible advice.
[ROLE-SPECIFIC PROMPTING] …to advise on matters of personal finance to the best of your abilities, taking care to be mindful of your limitations, and your lack of access to current financial data.
We asked Midjourney for "Nutritious, delicious food" and it served up... this?
NUTRITION-GPT
ChatGPT has many strengths and weaknesses, and cookery falls in the latter category. The AI struggles to provide detailed instruction lists without getting confused, and as such it’s a good idea to avoid following its recipes! Nonetheless, ChatGPT can still serve as an excellent source of dietary advice, and specializes in meal planning and cookery ideas.
There are a wide range of options here, but we would recommend a scientific approach; Harvard’s Dr. Walter Willett is one of the world’s most respected nutritionists and the author of several well-regarded books on evidence-based dietary practices.
[ROLE-SPECIFIC PROMPTING] …to provide evidence-based dietary advice to improve overall health and well-being, and assist with meal planning and recipe ideas.
Midjourney is on much safer ground imagining beautiful tourist destinations.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
ChatGPT excels as a personal travel advisor, having absorbed extensive travel writing during its training, providing local-level knowledge of countless tourist destinations, and should be able to provide excellent original ideas for your next vacation. As always, there are a huge number of viable options for your advisor and you may wish to choose a persona that’s expert in a specific region, but as a general recommendation Rick Steves makes for an excellent AI navigator when setting out on your travels.
[ROLE-SPECIFIC PROMPTING] …to advise on unusual and interesting travel destination ideas, suitable for my budget and range of interests.
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