ChatGPT is used by 400 million people a week, as confirmed by OpenAI in a Reuters report. That’s a shocking number, considering the AI chatbot is only a little over two years old. It makes ChatGPT one of the most widely used digital tools on the planet, putting it in the same league as search engines and social media platforms.

ChatGPT was a huge hit from its debut, hitting 1 million users in five days after launching in November of 2022. But, the pace of adoption has only accelerated, as, in December, it had reached 300 million weekly users, but its numbers have rocketed up by 100 million just two months later.

But just because a lot of people use ChatGPT doesn’t mean they’re all experts. You might still be only scratching the surface of what ChatGPT can actually do. If you want to really put ChatGPT through its paces, here are some tips.

Be specific

How you ask ChatGPT for something dramatically affects what you get in return. If you type in something like, “Tell me about the French Revolution,” sure, it’ll give you a solid history lesson. But if you want more than a thumbnail explanation, get specific. Ask for an explanation of how the French Revolution impacted modern democracy, written in the style of a political thriller. Or tell it to summarize the causes of the revolution from the perspective of Marie Antoinette’s hairdresser.

ChatGPT is better when you add more detail. If you want help finding a job, don’t just ask, “Can you help me with my resume?” Instead, say, “I’m applying for a marketing manager role at a sustainability-focused company. Can you help me write a resume summary that highlights my experience in digital campaigns and environmental advocacy?” That gets the AI to really drill into ways to help you personally, not just on a general level.

Tell ChatGPT who to be

One of the best ChatGPT tricks is getting the AI to play a role. Instead of making it guess what kind of response you want, you can tell it to become a character. If you need legal advice, though not the type that will hold up in court, you could say, “You’re an expert in intellectual property law. Explain how trademarks work in the fashion industry.” If you’re stuck on a creative project, tell ChatGPT, “You’re a veteran screenwriter. Help me outline a sci-fi movie about time travel paradoxes.”

When you assign ChatGPT a role, you’ll notice its responses become sharper, more relevant, and more insightful as it sifts through its databases for how to behave and respond like the kind of person you tell it to be. It’s the difference between asking a random stranger for advice and sitting down with an actual expert, except, in this case, the expert just happens to be a chatbot with a deep knowledge base.

Don’t take the first answer as final

One of the most common mistakes people make is treating ChatGPT like Google or another search engine. Sure, you can ask a question and get an answer or a link, but that should be only the beginning. It’s like treating a world-class chef as a vending machine.

Instead, think of ChatGPT as your brainstorming buddy, helping shape your ideas and getting shaped in turn by your prompts. If it gives you an answer that’s too formal, tell it to loosen up. If it writes something too long-winded, say, “Make this more concise.” If you need a more cheerful approach, you can ask, “Can you rewrite this from a more optimistic perspective?”

Refining ChatGPT’s output is the real power of the AI chatbot. Try having a back-and-forth, tweaking the response until it fits your needs. If you’re working on an important email, don’t just accept the first draft. Instead, ask ChatGPT to make it friendlier, then ask to make it more persuasive, and then shorten it. Before you know it, you’ll have an email that makes you sound like an absolute pro.

Get weird

Most people tend to use ChatGPT in predictable ways. They ask the AI to summarize things, answer questions, draft emails, and do other dull tasks. But if you want to see what ChatGPT can do, you need to push the boundaries.

Instead of just asking it to explain a complex concept, tell it to do it in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet or a rap battle between Newton and Einstein. Instead of asking for a meal plan, tell it, “Create a week’s worth of meals for someone who eats like a medieval knight but needs to lower their cholesterol.”

Weird prompts lead to creative, unexpected, and often brilliant results. If you’re brainstorming for a project, don’t just ask for ideas. Combine the specificity and role suggestions above and tell the AI to think like a rebellious 1980s ad executive, a minimalist Zen master, or a time traveler from 2090. You’ll get answers you might never have come up with on your own.

Learn from the AI

Most people use ChatGPT to do things for them, but the AI chatbot can have a longer-lasting impact on your life by teaching you how to learn better. The trick is treating ChatGPT like a coach, not just a tool.

If you’re learning to code, don’t just ask it to fix your errors; have it walk you through what went wrong and how to avoid it next time. ChatGPT can converse casually in several widely spoken tongues and correct you in real time if you want to learn to speak a new language. And if you need to be better at job interviews, you can practice to your heart’s content with ChatGPT and get it to vary in interview style and difficulty. Thinking of ChatGPT as a personal tutor you can meet with at any time, and that doesn’t judge you open up a lot of possibilities for self-improvement.

With 400 million people using ChatGPT every week, the AI chatbot is quickly becoming part of everyday life. That doesn’t mean all those millions are taking advantage of ChatGPT’s full abilities. The difference between a dabble and an expert in ChatGPT is how much someone pushes the AI chatbot beyond its most basic functions. So, get weird and specific. Combine ideas and act out scenarios with the AI chatbot. Remember, it will never outdo you at being human, but it could be the teacher and assistant supporting your goals in ways you’ve never imagined.

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