GoKawiilPhoto by Ed Bott
One of the most obvious cases for an AI chatbot is to help you figure out why your PC or Mac is acting up and, more importantly, suggest how to get things working properly again.
I've done plenty of AI troubleshooting, and my experiences have been erratic, to say the least. Occasionally, the chatbot nails the problem with a sensible answer and a straightforward discussion.
But, just as often, the result is frustrating and unproductive. The chatbot keeps confidently suggesting answers that turn out to be wrong. Is it my fault? Are AI chatbots from Mars and humans from Venus? Are we having a failure to communicate?
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Finally, it dawned on me: Why not ask the chatbot how to ask questions in a way that maximizes the likelihood of getting useful results? So I asked Copilot (which uses ChatGPT under the hood) to sit down for some questions and answers. It turned out to be an eye-opening session.
Everything this LLM had to tell me applies just as much if you're trying to work through a problem with a knowledgeable human tech support agent.
My interview, slightly edited for continuity, appears here.
How to write a troubleshooting prompt
Q: Thanks for agreeing to chat with me. Can you tell my readers a little about yourself?
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