Prompt Engineering: Stop Acting Like a Tech-Illiterate Boomer

Most students use ChatGPT like a glorified search engine and wonder why their marks are stuck at a 2:2. You aren’t failing because you’re lazy; you’re failing because your prompts are basic and provide zero context.

Feed the Rubric, Not the Topic

Don’t ask for a 2,000-word essay on macroeconomics. Paste your module’s marking criteria directly into the chat and tell the AI to act as a cynical Russell Group examiner. Make it tear your draft apart based on those specific grading points before you even think about hitting submit.

Kill the Hallucinations with Logic Chains

AI lies when it’s bored or under-stimulated. Force it to explain its reasoning step-by-step before it gives you a final answer. If it can’t justify the logic behind a paragraph, the facts are probably made up, and your tutor will spot that fake reference in seconds.

Use AI to Simplify, Not Complicate

Academics love hiding simple ideas behind impenetrable jargon to feel important. Take that dense 50-page journal article, dump it in, and tell the AI to explain it like you’re a tired student at 3 AM. If you don’t grasp the core concept, you can’t critique it properly in your own work.

Underground Pro-Tip 💡: Use the “Devil’s Advocate” prompt. Ask the AI to identify the three weakest points in your argument and provide the specific academic counter-points a marker would use to dock you marks. Fix them before they become an issue.

Play the game better than the people who wrote the rules.