Pattern Prompts: 4 Key Strategies to Ideate, Create, and Research

Behold my daughter. She was so fetching happy this week that her eyes almost shut from joy.

When was the last time you were so happy that you had to let it show with a grin?

When was the last time you were so joyous that your smile couldn’t get any bigger?

My daughter might have massive mood swings, but she certainly doesn’t allow the world to tarnish her joy when it’s present. =)

I entered freelance software development 2 years ago.

One man, all alone, building his own brand. As a solo software developer, I found myself grappling with the challenge of maximizing efficiency and creativity. When AI came out, my productivity skyrocketed.

Why?

Tons of reasons, but the first among them was GitHub Copilot.

GitHub Copilot is an AI in my code editor. It lets me write entire files in minutes, rather than seconds. One of the most powerful things I realized about AI as I was using it to write code was that it was incredibly good at recognizing and following patterns.

I could write a function, then the AI would mimic that one function (with variations) repeatedly.

This discovery let me spend the majority of my time time thinking, reviewing, and approving, rather than writing the code.

It was amazing.

The next step of transferring that prowess into chat-based AIs, like ChatGPT.

Harnessing AI's Power with Pattern Prompts

Pattern Prompts are incredibly useful tools for

1. Ideation,

2. Content creation (that follows a specific structure or pattern),

3. Research

Here is an example:

Pattern Prompts give the AI a role and then tend to finish with “do you understand your role?”

To which the AI responds with “yes.”

Then we can feed it information to generate tons of ideas or content!

And we can even ask it to make more!

Honestly I’m liking these nose breathing titles… I’m definitely a fan of Breathing Redefined: How Nose Breathing Transforms Your Well-being…

Strategies for Crafting Effective Pattern Prompts

1. Define Structured Output: Just like in programming, defining a clear structure for your prompt sets the tone for AI's response. This could be a specific format, a style of writing, or a sequence of steps. I could have improved the above prompt by giving it a structure for the titles I wanted.

2. Clarity is Key: Ensure that the pattern you provide is what you actually want. AI will follow the pattern you provide with expert precision. I can’t tell you how many times it followed a pattern I did not care about. The more clarity on your pattern, the more able you will be to describe what you want to an AI. This is the basis of good delegation as well!

3. More Work Up Front To Decrease Subsequent Effort: The more clarity you bring to your Pattern Prompt, the less work you’ll need to do to leverage it. Put in the time to get it right, watch it give you immediate compounding returns.

4. Iterative Refinement: AI's first response will never be perfect. It’s a starting point. Refine your the pattern you want it to follow iteratively for more precise outcomes.

Practical Applications in the Real World

The beauty of Pattern Prompts lies in their versatility.

Need to brainstorm ideas? Provide a word, and AI can generate a list of concepts. I did this to come up with the title for this email!

Working on a content piece? Start with a sentence, and watch AI elaborate it into a full article.

Needing to find companies that match a certain criteria? Let AI “do the search” and just keep asking it to find companies that match your requirements until it says it doesn’t know anymore of them. I did this for two clients this week, one of them said it saved them one week of research). Key point here: don’t let it search the internet, ask it to leverage its knowledge of the internet.

In Conclusion

By embracing AI Pattern Prompts, you open the door to unprecedented levels of productivity, creativity, and efficiency (I promise).

Generate ideas, write high quality content quickly, research awesome crap faster than humanly possible.

Take these strategies, apply them to your AI interactions, and watch as your projects transform.

Happy innovating!

Maximizing my usefulness as a father and friend,
Sterling Long!