All right, I have a somewhat unpopular take on custom instructions. Not very useful, in my opinion. Stick around for today’s AI and I’ll tell you why. But first, let me tell you what custom instructions are.
My name is Jordan Wilson, and I’m the host of Everyday AI. We’re a daily live stream podcast and free daily newsletter, helping everyday people make the most out of AI. There’s a lot of noise out there, a lot of people selling snake oil. Everyday AI cuts through that and brings on guests to help you learn from them.
So, let’s learn a little bit about ChatGPT and why I think custom instructions aren’t that great. Custom instructions are a way to take a shortcut and get better results out of ChatGPT without providing as much background knowledge or telling it how you want it to respond. In theory, it saves you time. However, I believe custom instructions are not very helpful for the average person.
Most people are using ChatGPT to write subpar content, instead of utilizing its capabilities for research, analysis, and automation. Custom instructions may be useful for a small percentage of users who want ChatGPT to write like them, but for most people, it’s not necessary.
One of the main reasons I’m not a fan of custom instructions is that you can only turn them on or off. There are no other settings to customize the behavior. This lack of flexibility can be problematic, especially when using ChatGPT for different purposes, such as writing a cover letter or communicating with recruiters.
I made the mistake of using custom instructions for a specific task and then realizing I couldn’t turn them off when I needed to. It’s like buying a brand new smartphone and only using it for phone calls. You’re not fully utilizing its potential.
I hope that in the future, ChatGPT and OpenAI provide the option to toggle custom instructions on and off at the chat level. This would allow users to have more control over the behavior of ChatGPT without sacrificing its flexibility and capabilities.
In conclusion, while custom instructions may have their uses for a select few, I generally do not recommend them. It’s important to leverage the full potential of ChatGPT and use it for tasks that align with its expertise. Custom instructions can limit the flexibility and robustness of ChatGPT, especially when combined with plugins.
I hope this article has provided some insights into the limitations of custom instructions in ChatGPT. If you want to learn more about AI and stay updated, sign up for our daily newsletter at everydayai.com. Thank you for reading!
