Your First Conversation
By the end of this lesson you will know how to have a productive conversation with ChatGPT and understand how it thinks.
Learn how ChatGPT remembers your conversation
Within one chat session, ChatGPT remembers everything you said earlier. If you told it you are a secondary school student in Lagos at the start of the conversation, you do not need to repeat it. You can refer back to earlier messages: "Can you explain that second point again?" or "Give me 3 more examples like the ones you listed." Each new chat you start is a blank slate — ChatGPT will not remember things from a previous conversation unless you tell it again.
Ask follow-up questions
The first response ChatGPT gives is rarely its best. Always follow up. If you ask for business ideas and get 5 ideas, pick the most interesting one and ask: "Tell me more about that idea. What would I need to start it? How much could I make in Lagos?" If an explanation is confusing, say: "Explain that more simply. I did not understand the third point." If you want more: "Give me 5 more examples." ChatGPT gets better the more you push it.
Use it to explain your school subjects
ChatGPT is one of the best study tools ever built. You can ask it to explain any topic from any subject. "Explain photosynthesis like I am 14 years old." "What is the difference between mitosis and meiosis? Give me a simple comparison." "I have a JAMB exam coming up on Economics. Quiz me on supply and demand." "Explain the causes of the Nigerian Civil War in simple points." It will not do your work for you — but it will explain things in a way that your textbook sometimes cannot.
Pick one topic from any subject you are currently studying that you find confusing. Open ChatGPT and ask it to explain that topic to you. If the first explanation is still confusing, ask it to 'explain it even more simply' or 'give me a real-life example from Nigeria'. Keep going until you actually understand it.