As y'all know, I love experimenting with whatever new tech that happens to be floating around on the 'net for free. This means a ton of web searching and, nowadays, chatting with bots to learn lingo, limitations, and liabilities. This takes a ton of time and typing before I finally get going on whatever toy I'm trying to play with. Chatbots sometimes help and sometimes hinder, especially on new or rapidly evolving software, just like search queries. Have you seen how much todos about Photoshop have changed over the years?! The problem with the bots is, eventually, they just kinda go crazy.
So, to get better bot interactions, we need to do two things: We need to get it to Read The F%$*ing Manual ('cause, let's face it, you won't). Then, we need to make sure to wipe it's brain between tasks.
First, we need to establish the context for Robbie the Robot to pull from. Letting these things pull from whatever reblogged dumpster fire floats to the top of search is folly for a first prompt.
This is where the manual comes in. In this era, most of these are available online. Go get it! We'll need this to prime our new expert.
Ideally, the documentation you want should be as lean and mean as possible. Got a .pdf and don't need the pics or formatting? Covert it to text. Or see if there is an AI optimized version (you usually only see this for, ironically, AI manuals, but consider this post future-proofed). In a pinch, grab the URL of the help portal. Anything that helps establish a base of knowledge.
Hit up you AI portal of choice. I'm going to use Gemini on PC web for this example, but it works on whatever chatbot and platform you prefer.
S’OK? S’aw- right! We don't need our new expert to still be remembering the time you were trying to find that one cream of celery soup recipe out of the millions the Boomers put online the 90s that clogged up der Intertubes so bad it killed your ping in Quake but now is, inexplicably, gone and you were REALLY craving.
Next, we need to feed Sim Brain our manual or book. Find the button to add a file to chat. Gemini and Copilot have a plus button that opens a menu. Subscribers will have access to Projects in stuff like ChatGPT, but we're working from a "Joe Everyman" point of view.
Add your first prompt with the file. Something like "I need you to be an expert in <My Topic>. I have attached the documentation for you to refer to." And then maybe add a middle finger emoticon if you're feeling spicy. Submit and we're off to the races!
Now, let's make sure we can find it again. We're surely not doing all this tiny amount of 'work' for something we need once, right?
Open the sidebar. Yeah, I know you forgot about the sidebar. Our current conversation is the top one. Click the menu button and pin it so it stays there. You may want to rename it to <My Topic> Expert as well.
Congrats! You've got a digital nonsense generator that SHOULD be slightly more helpful!
The next sticky wicket to kick is the accelerated Alzheimer's of your 'expert'.
Try to stay on one topic/problem at a time while chatting. Don't make jokes. Don't engage in jibba-jabba. We've got work to do!
If you're coming back to your expert another day (we pinned it in the sidebar, remember?), or bottsy is getting a little squirrelly (consistently wrong or off-track or on a track based on wrong results), we're gonna hit it with the magic bullet:
/reset
Say you uploaded your router's manual. Done asking about QoS setting and want to know about port forwarding? /reset. Coming back the next day because BitTorrent keeps blowing out your NAT? /reset. Now the dang thing won't connect to the Internet? /reset. How do I send this POS back to the company for a refund? /reset.
This will keep your expert on track rather than crazy going slowly am I due to having too much context it the binary grey matter. Just like every other machine in your life, it requires maintenance.
And this works for ANYTHING! Company standards and practices, programming guides, How To books, Noise regulations in your neighborhood, Apple's EULA you never read, etc.
Make the right tools for the right jobs so you can work as little as possible.
I guess I should include a lil TLDR since you probably had a chatbot give you a summary anyway. I know. I get it. Your weak, old heart can't take the purpleness of my prose.
TLDR: Get the manual in as simple and clean a version as possible. Upload it to the chatbot. Tell it to be an expert and that you gave it the info to do so. Pin it for future use. Type /reset early and often to prevent hallucinations.
And, no, AI was not used to create any part of this post. Pfft! You think some fancy autocomplete can emulate this style? Not on my budget!
As always, we love you and send thanks for telling a bot to summarize this article. I'll be in VR if you need me. Its scary out there!
“Make the AI RTFM” is a funny way of highlighting a real issue with technology: sometimes the answer is already sitting in the documentation. Reading instructions carefully can save time, reduce mistakes, and make troubleshooting much easier. The same principle applies to academic work, where understanding guidelines before starting can prevent unnecessary revisions. Students working on detailed research may also come across dissertation help services when looking for guidance with structure, research, and academic writing.
ReplyDeleteI was reading pro tip make ai rtfm and found it interesting how people are learning to use AI tools in practical ways. It also made me think about students who have to explain ideas clearly in their academic work. Case study help can be useful when a topic requires research analysis and a well organized approach. I have also seen The assignment help mentioned in student conversations about managing difficult academic tasks and improving their writing.
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