Use ChatGPT To Understand Any Topic In The World

Welcome to The Pen Pivot!

At 9am (EST) every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, we show tech-savvy writers how to use AI and new tech to write better content, faster.

In today’s email:  

• AI Tool Of The Day 🛠️ - A tool that lets you create characters and talk to them.

• AI Writing Tip Of The Day🖋️ - A ChatGPT prompt to simplify any topic before writing about it.

AI Tool Of The Day 🛠️

Character AI: A beta product that lets you create your own characters and talk to them as if they really existed. It’s a great way to brainstorm character development or just to have a bit of fun with your creations.

(Not sponsored).

AI Writing Tip Of The Day 🖋️

ChatGPT Prompt: “ELI10”

“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple” - Woody Guthrie.

Guilty. Well, at least I used to be…

It’s funny.

We don’t usually know our readers personally but do often feel an intense desire to impress them.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of writing in a way that makes a topic seem more complicated than it actually is.

Maybe it’s by accident.

Or maybe it’s a subconscious effort to make us seem cleverer than we actually are.

Either way, simplifying a topic and explaining it with clarity is the simplest and most effective way to impress a reader.

Before I write, I sometimes ask ChatGPT to explain the topic to me like I was 10 - i.e “ELI10”.

Even if you were writing for an audience of professionals or experts, having the topic explained to you in this way makes it easier to then write with clarity.

You can ask ChatGPT to do this in one of two ways:

1. You can either copy and paste some text you’re using as research into ChatGPT and ask it to explain it to you like you were 10.

2. Or you can rely on ChatGPT for the research and ask it to explain a broad topic or concept to you like you were 10.

Here’s the ChatGPT prompt for the second option. Don’t worry - if you did want some specific text explained, all you’d have to do is include it within the prompt.

Your ChatGPT Prompt Template: 🤖

Example:

Let’s say I was writing an article on game theory or simply wanted to refer to it in an article.

For example, let’s assume that I wanted to refer to game theory in an article about the dangers of fast fashion.

I know very little about game theory but have a vague idea that it may be relevant.

Here’s the ChatGPT prompt I could use:

Zoom in if you have to.

And here is ChatGPT’s response:

After reading this, I’m now in a much better position to ask ChatGPT to “dig deeper” into this topic if I wanted to.

I’m now also able to make a relevant reference to game theory in my article and explain it in a way that’s helpful to the reader.

Try it out. If you found this prompt helpful, drop me an email letting me know how you used it!

And that’s all for today!

Misya, The Pen Pivot