ChatGPT for Beginners: Start Using AI Today

ChatGPT is an AI assistant that you interact with through conversation. You can ask questions, give instructions, provide information and refine the result through follow-up messages.

For beginners, the best place to start is simply with a normal conversation.

1. What can you ask ChatGPT?

ChatGPT can assist with many everyday tasks involving information, language, planning, ideas and problem solving. For example:

• explain something,
• draft an email,
• improve your writing,
• brainstorm ideas,
• create a checklist,
• plan a project,
• summarise information,
• compare options,
• create social-media content, and
• help you learn.

2. Write your first prompt

A prompt is simply the instruction you give ChatGPT. Try:

Explain artificial intelligence to me in plain English. Assume I have never used AI before.

Then continue:

Give me five everyday examples.

Then:

Which of those would be most useful to a small business?

3. Add context

One of the easiest ways to improve your results is to provide background.

Instead of:

Write a letter.

Try:

Write a friendly letter to customers announcing that our business is moving to a new location next month. Keep it professional but conversational and under 250 words.

4. Use a simple prompt formula

A useful beginner formula is:

What you want + Background + Audience + Format

For example:

Create five Facebook post ideas for a local computer repair business. Our customers are mainly home users and small businesses. Use friendly non-technical language. Give each idea a headline and a short post.

5. Ask ChatGPT to improve its own answer

The first answer does not need to be the final answer. You can say:

• Make it shorter.
• Make it friendlier.
• Explain number three in more detail.
• Turn that into a table.
• Give me three alternatives.
• Rewrite it for a complete beginner.

Refine rather than restart.

6. Work with files

If file uploads are available in your ChatGPT plan, you can add a document and ask questions about it. For example:

Summarise this report in plain English and identify the five points I should pay most attention to.

Or:

Check this document for spelling, grammar and unclear wording. Do not change the meaning.

7. Ask ChatGPT to help build the prompt

You do not always need to know what information to provide. Try:

I want you to help me plan a holiday, but I am not sure what information you need. Ask me the questions you need before creating the itinerary.

This technique also works for marketing, business planning, studying, troubleshooting and project planning.

Try it yourself

I am completely new to ChatGPT. Ask me five questions about my work, hobbies and everyday tasks. Then suggest ten practical ways I could use ChatGPT, with a sample prompt for each one.

Beginner tip

A clear prompt usually tells ChatGPT what you want, gives enough context, describes the audience and explains the format you would like.

Key message

Getting useful results from ChatGPT is not about memorising complicated commands. Tell it what you want, provide context, describe the result you would like, and refine the answer through conversation.