How To Make ChatGPT More Creative

asycd
4 min readJul 29, 2023

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ai-generated image of ‘birth by sea

Abstract

I have been using AI tools such as GPT for several months now and I have used it to create everything pretty much. From articles to writing copy for my website, the possibilities are endless!

Most content ChatGPT produces is generic for obvious reasons but how can we extract more creativity from the text it generates?

In this article I cover innovative prompt engineering techniques to create more interesting and insightful content.

Ways to Make ChatGPT More Cre8tive

Prompt Designing

Thinking of the right prompt to perform a task can be a time-consuming process but it does not have to be.

For instance, a common technique I employ when I am stuck is asking ChatGPT to write the prompt for me. This sounds strange but observe the example below in which I generate a more informative prompt.

prompt: “write a prompt to write a creative short story under 200 words”

While that may not be story you desired, its a starting point so you can change the topic of the story or even the themes it explores.

Creating Control Tokens

If you want a certain aspect of the content to vary, you can add a control token to the prompt.

A control token is a specialized token used in natural language processing to guide the behaviour of a language model during text generation. It helps adjust attributes like randomness, length, and task-specific instructions, enabling users to influence and customize the model’s responses for specific applications and desired outcomes.

This something you can get ChatGPT to help you with also!

In the example below ChatGPT decides a temperature function can be used to adjust the number of twists and turns in the story.

prompt: “add a temperature function to the following prompt: [old prompt]”

screenshot of revised prompt with temperature function

In the context of the story, using a temperature value of 0.7 might lead to more unexpected and imaginative twists in the narrative, possibly introducing surreal elements or unusual events. On the other hand, a temperature value of 0.2 would likely produce a more straightforward and grounded storyline, with fewer surprises and a tighter focus on the core elements of the plot.

Constraint Based Prompting

Adding constraints allows you to craft content more tailored to a specific use. For example, if you require natural language descriptions for image generation, you might set constraints such as concise, non-verb or 400 characters which is the limit for DALL-E 2 algorithm.

prompt: “Please generate a markdown table with 10 rows. Each row should contain a 15 character max description in the first column, and a non-verb description of the image in the second column. The descriptions should be concise and focus on the visual aspects of the images, avoiding any verbs. Please ensure that the descriptions are diverse and capture various subjects, styles, and aesthetics. Include a suitable artist in the description, colouring suggestions and other creative suggestions to enhance the description.”

Above is a prompt that I would use to generate a description for ai-generated art.

As you can see, there are several constraints in the prompt such as:

  • 10 rows
  • 15 character limit for image titles
  • avoid using any verbs

Knowing the desired output helps when establishing prompt constraints but if you are stuck, just ask ChatGPT.

Artificial Creativity vs Authentic Creativity

cotton candy sky

Even if you are an expert prompt engineer you will still struggle with engineering authentic creativity. While content generated will be unique in the sense that it uses different words, given a prompt, it will create content that follows a certain structure.

While complete replication of human creativity remains challenging, employing thoughtful techniques can foster more imaginative, emotionally evocative, and diverse responses from the language model. These responses then can be transmuted into content or art.

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asycd
asycd

Written by asycd

generating abstract and innovative digital art using generative AI since 2022-_-creating software and websites since 2024 -_-'always something you can do'

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