How to question AI – Helpful prompts for teachers

If you’ve never interacted with a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool like ChatGPT, conveying the idea you want to get across in order to obtain the right result can be tricky. That’s why the group of AI experts from the eLearning Innovation Center (eLinC) at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has produced the guide entitled How to question AI. Helpful prompts for teachers when using generative AI (in Catalan and Spanish).

In the document, teaching staff will find the instructions they need when working with the various types of generative artificial intelligence, and for obtaining clear and appropriate answers from it. This can help make generative AI can a really useful support tool for teaching.

Prompts: key to understanding AI

In the field of generative AI, a prompt is the statement, question or instruction that the user gives to the AI model they are working with in order to obtain a specific result. The prompt is a key factor in this communication, since how it is formulated determines the final response given by the AI. A clear, concise and specific prompt will generate an accurate and specific response.

A prompt can take different forms, such as instructions based on an image or audio. However, our guide is based on suggestions using natural language.

You also need to keep in mind that the answers provided by generative AI need to be reviewed and checked, as many of these tools are still being trialled, or are free versions with fewer features than the paid versions.

Specific prompts for particular needs

The guide produced by the eLinC’s experts also contains specific prompts for a series of activities and tools, including producing teaching materials, creating tests and assessments, preparing courses and summarizing and consulting documents. Likewise, specific tools, such as ChatGPT or Bing Chat, are recommended for particular tasks because they have certain features.

It is important to remember that these recommendations and proposals may need to be adapted depending on the needs of the user making the query.

Other resources on generative AI that may also interest you: 

• Explaining to students how to use generative AI in the classroom
• Applications of ChatGPT in higher education for teaching and learning
• Generative AI use in the classroom: tips to prevent student misconduct
• Generative AI: Useful tools for teaching staff 
• Methodologies and activities for assessment and learning with generative artificial intelligence

This material contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, Quality Education.