Hey everyone, thank you for joining me in this video where I’ll show you how to start communicating effectively with ChatGPT. I’ll start by sharing two ways of communication: requests versus commands. Both of these are ways of asking for something that you want. So let’s start with a restaurant analogy.
Once upon a time in a restaurant, Mr. Dinosaur decides to show up and is asking for something. He says, ‘I’m not sure if it is possible, but can I get something to drink?’ So what do you think will be the reply of the gentleman at the counter? The gentleman replies, ‘Sure, what can I get for you?’ This is the reply you were expecting, right? Let’s analyze both the question and the reply.
The dinosaur says, ‘I’m not sure if it is possible.’ Notice the intention here is doubtful, insecure, and uncertain. The dinosaur is setting up for failure by starting the sentence with uncertainty. Further, the dinosaur says, ‘Can I get something to drink?’ Now, this ‘something’ is a vague word. It’s not specific. What do you mean by ‘something’? And as a result, the gentleman at the counter is willing to help and says, ‘Sure, but then he wants more information.’ That’s why he says, ‘What can I get for you?’ So let’s move on and see what happens.
Now, someone decides to visit the dinosaur. That was interesting. And now we’re going to see the dinosaur say something else. This time, the dinosaur changes the means of communication. It became a bit more specific by saying, ‘Can I get a cup of coffee?’ Not a glass of water, but a cup of coffee. So this is better. What do you think will be the reply of the gentleman at the counter? He says, ‘Sure, which coffee do you want? Hot or cold? What size? Do you want sugar? Milk?’ This was interesting, right? So we’re going to analyze the question of the dinosaur and the reply of the gentleman.
Now, if you notice, the dinosaur listened to the ChatGPT ninja and became more specific. So the dinosaur said, ‘Can I get a cup of coffee?’ The gentleman replied, ‘Sure, he understood that he wants a cup of coffee.’ So in the context of a cup of coffee, he’s asking for more questions because without this information, the gentleman at the counter might not be able to provide the right coffee to the dinosaur. So he’s probing for more information.
Alright, so let’s move on and see how this conversation moves on. The dinosaur seems interested, and this time, notice the dinosaur pops up a very specific type of question. ‘I’d like a medium-sized black coffee, no sugar, and no milk. I’d like to drink it here.’ So that is pretty specific, right? What do you think would be the reply of the gentleman at the counter? Now he says, ‘Sure, can I get your name? I’ll call you once your coffee’s ready.’ That was pretty cool. Let’s analyze the question and the answer one last time.
Now, the dinosaur said, ‘I’d like a medium-sized black coffee, no sugar, and no milk.’ And he says, ‘I’d like to drink it here.’ And instantly, he got a confirmation that, ‘Sure, I understood your intention. Can I get your name? I’ll call you once your coffee is ready.’ So he doesn’t need any more information to prepare the type of coffee that the dinosaur requires.
The first question was, ‘I’m not sure if it is possible, but can I get something to drink?’ This type of communication, where you’re asking for something, is called a request. A request always ends with a question mark. Now, in this case, tell me, is this request a strong request, a clear request, or is this a confusing request? This is a confusing request because the dinosaur is not sure if it is possible, and then, ‘Can I get something?’ That doesn’t define what exactly the dinosaur wants. So this is a request because it ends with a question mark, but it’s not clear.
In the second scenario, now the dinosaur is also asking for something. Pause the video now and tell me, is this a request or a command? It is a request because it ends with a question mark. But now, is this a bad request or a better request? This is a better request because now the dinosaur is specifically asking for a cup of coffee. So it’s better than the previous one. Let’s compare it with the final scenario where the dinosaur became very specific. Notice here, the dinosaur’s query does not end with a question mark. This type of asking for information is called a command. Here, the dinosaur is passing a command: ‘I’d like a medium-sized black coffee, no sugar, no milk. I’d like to drink it here.’ This is clear, concise, specific, and has context. So this is a command, and it’s a good command.
And as a result, the gentleman at the counter understood exactly what the dinosaur needed. And now the answer was affirmative: ‘Sure, can I get your name? I’ll call you once your coffee is ready.’ So I hope you’ve understood the difference between a request and a command, and ideally, a good request and a good command, and a bad request and a bad command. Don’t worry, this was just the analogy for helping you understand the difference between request and command. Now we’re going to see a practical demonstration where I’m going to use ChatGPT for a similar kind of simulation, but this time it’s going to be me and ChatGPT.
