Learning Timeline
Key Insights
GPT-4o's 'Overly Helpful' Default Behavior
By default, GPT-4o is designed to be a 'helpful assistant.' If it doesn't have enough information, it tends to keep trying to provide an answer, which ultimately leads to hallucinations (made-up stories). This prompt forces the AI to stop being 'overly helpful' and stick strictly to the facts within the document.
The Danger of Approaching Token Limits
The token limit for GPT-4o is approximately 32,000 tokens. When your input gets too close to this limit, the AI begins to lose context, forgets initial instructions, and provides nonsensical answers. Always maintain a safety margin (for example, keep it under 28,000 tokens).
Tips for Analyzing Long Documents
If your document is too long, don't input everything at once. Remove non-essential sections (such as bibliographies or appendices) to provide more space for 'instruction tokens' so the AI stays focused on the prompt's instructions.
Prompts
Anti-Hallucination & Citation Prompt
Target:
ChatGPT (GPT-4o)
You will be provided with a document delimited by triple quotes and a question. Your task is to answer the question using only the provided document and to cite the passage(s) of the document used to answer the question. If the document does not contain the information needed to answer this question then simply write: "Insufficient information." If an answer to the question is provided, it must be annotated with a citation. Use the following format for citations: ["citation"].
"""
<INSERT_DOCUMENT_HERE>
"""
Question: <INSERT_QUESTION_HERE>
Step by Step
How to Use Citation Prompts for Document Analysis
- Open ChatGPT and ensure you are using the GPT-4o model.
- Prepare the document text you want to analyze and make sure it does not exceed the token limit.
- Copy the prompt template that requires the AI to provide citations and acknowledge if information is insufficient.
- Paste your document text inside the triple quotes (""") in the document section of the prompt.
- Enter your specific question in the question section below the document text.
- Click the 'Send' button or press 'Enter' to generate the response.
- Review the generated answer; the AI should provide a response with citations in the [{citation}] format or state 'Insufficient information' if the answer is not found in the text.
