Using ChatGPT for summarizing articles and large text

[pdpatient]

Here's a cheatsheet to understand ChatGPT prompts, with a focus on "summarize article" tasks:

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**ChatGPT Prompts Cheatsheet**

**1. Basic Understanding**

- **Prompt**: A brief input that instructs ChatGPT to produce a desired output.

- **ChatGPT**: A language model trained by OpenAI based on the GPT architecture. It generates text based on provided prompts.

**2. General Prompting Tips**

- **Clarity**: Be clear in your instruction. Specify the type of information you want.

- **Directness**: Instead of saying "Can you...", start directly with "Summarize..."

- **Iteration**: It's okay to rephrase and ask again if the initial response isn't satisfactory.

**3. Summarizing Article Prompts**

When asking ChatGPT to summarize an article, consider the following:

a. **Initial Prompt**:

- Example: "Summarize the following article for me."

b. **Specify Length**:

- Short: "Give me a one-sentence summary of the article."

- Medium: "Provide a paragraph summary of the article."

- Long: "Summarize the article in 5 paragraphs."

c. **Focus Areas**:

- "Summarize the article, emphasizing its main argument."

- "Summarize the article, highlighting statistical data."

d. **Article Context**:

- If the article is from a niche area, provide context: "This is a medical research article. Please summarize its findings."

e. **Feedback Loop**:

- After getting the summary, if something is unclear, ask follow-up questions like "Can you elaborate on the main argument?" or "What's the significance of the data mentioned?"

**4. Common Challenges & Solutions**:

- **Too Broad**: If ChatGPT gives a broad summary, ask for specific details.

- **Too Technical**: Ask the model to simplify or explain specific terms.

- **Missed Details**: Specify any key points or topics you want the model to focus on.

**5. Advanced Prompting Techniques**:

a. **Chain Prompts**: Use a series of questions to get detailed summaries. Start broad and then narrow down.

b. **Temperature & Max Tokens**: (For API users) Adjust the "temperature" setting for more random (higher values) or deterministic (lower values) outputs. Adjust "max tokens" to limit response length.

**6. Final Tips**:

- **Practice**: The more you interact with ChatGPT, the better you get at phrasing your prompts

I hope this cheatsheet helps you craft effective prompts for summarizing articles with ChatGPT!

[park_bear]

AI is prone to "hallucinations". Recently an attorney submitted an AI generated filing in a court case. It turned out all the references were made up. AI is not a source of reliable information. When I see AI generated posts, I skip and move on.

[pdpatient in reply to park_bear]

That is understandable given the recent experience.

Hopefully this post is helpful for summarizing articles as requested by forum members.

Help me understand how ChatGPT or something similar can hallucinate when just summarizing?

[park_bear in reply to pdpatient]

AI is a program that finds likely combinations of words. It does not have the lived experience of understanding what those words reference. "Summarize", for it, is a parameter in a computer program.

The comments of the attorney who filed the AI generated legal brief are instructive:

forbes.com/sites/mollybohan...

he was “mortified” upon learning about the false cases, and when he used the tool he “did not understand it was not a search engine, but a generative language-processing tool.”

The lawyer explained that he hadn’t used ChatGPT for legal research before and had learned of the technology “from his college-age children,” adding that he read articles about the benefits of AI in professional settings and how the tools “could make legal research obsolete.”

[Emphasis added]

[pdpatient in reply to park_bear]

Thanks for the insight PB

[CuriousMe12 in reply to park_bear]

It has a very high percentage of correct output but should carry a warning that there's a chance of incorrect information. It's a useful tool but best kept for personal use and then if it shows particular points of interest you should cross check the points with your own eyes. Then post your information.

[MarionP in reply to park_bear]

Yeah I saw that in an article in the New York times. Incredible. The attorney got caught and got sanctioned too.

[Lizzy9]

Hello ~ I did a web- search “Flaws” of ChatGPT. It was quite informative. I agree with PB.

My grandson also informed me of some flaws not mentioned such as ChatGPT “information” may go a few months without being updated making some of its information incorrect.

Just some thoughts.

Have a fabulous day!

[kevowpd]

On a topic as serious, complex and nuanced as PD, you are far better off reading the source material than relying on these tools. And given how badly 'Claude' failed you on Chris Lacey, it's difficult to understand how you haven't reached the same conclusion,.

[pdpatient in reply to kevowpd]

Hi Kevin,

These tools evolve don't they? And by design, these tools would be of great help for us with our declining faculties once they get it done right, don't you think?

I don't think summarization falls in the same category as search only because it will be easy to double check the output. I like to be open to new technology if it makes my life easier. Granted that I can't do things the same way that I could do before. To be honest, I can't read lengthy stuff anymore and I welcome the effort to make my life easier. If we give it time won't it evolve?

You are right. The search result was a bad idea and we know that now. My thoughts are : what do we have to lose? We just need to be clear that we are dealing with something new and have a disclaimer at the beginning of such AI processed output.

Anyways, some forum members asked me for the steps to summarize the articles and I obliged.

[kevowpd in reply to pdpatient]

what do we have to lose?

Well, you can be fundamentally misled, which is exactly what already happened.