The Intelligent Friend - The newsletter about the AI-humans relationships, based only on scientific papers.
Intellibox - Issue 3
Hello IF readers! This is the third issue of Intellibox, the new weekly issue of The Intelligent Friend where, beyond insights from an interesting paper, you immerse yourself in a creative and intriguing challenge thanks to AI. Some examples? You are in a jungle and you have to find a particular animal species. Or you have to create a character, plan how to write your book in two months and much more. All with the help of AI.
This issue is part of the paid The Intelligent Friend subscription. But the cost remains the same. That's right, only 5 USD per month.
This third issue of Intellibox is 'in reverse': first there is the simulation, then the in-depth analysis of the paper. This is because I created this simulation in collaboration with of , and you can find it open to everyone there too (subscribe to his newsletter if you haven't already!).
However, as anticipated, starting from this issue Intellibox is exclusive to paid subscribers, so the second part will not be accessible to everyone. However, the collaboration with Alejandro will allow you to try another truly engaging simulation!
The challenge: into the magical castle!
Here we are now at the challenge or simulation of the week. I'll briefly remind you how it works:
I'll give you some context on the challenge and goals;
I'll give you the prompt;
I will tell you how, if you want, you can share the outputs.
So, let's start with this approach with the second exciting simulation.
P.S. I would like to specify that, as I have often said, I do not have a Computer science background. To create these prompts I used ChatGPT-4o itself, continually experimenting and making changes until I had a result that I thought was truly engaging to bring to you here. I test the prompts extensively, but if there is any problem, don't be afraid to report it to me and also suggest how to improve!
The challenge
You are in an enchanted castle. Magnificent and frightening creatures hide in the most hidden corners. But your exploration will lead you...to a new side hustle idea!
I thought of something special: an enchanted castle in which you can build a new side hustle. It doesn't matter if you already have an idea in mind to perfect or if you start completely from scratch: the experience is programmed to take you forward through some fundamental steps and finally perfect the basis of your idea.
But be careful: in the castle there are wizards, magical woods, mystical creatures ready to hinder and help you. I hope it actually inspires you and pushes you to take that step you didn't think you'd take!
After copying and pasting the prompt into any chatbot, simply start the challenge by interacting with the chatbot: it will present you with options from which you will have to choose a number, or it will ask you to write your idea or other and obtain a result, an evaluation, and advice.
The only command to keep in mind is 'CASTLE': if in the middle of a passage you want to pass all the sub-phases and continue exploring the castle, just write the word and the chatbot will automatically take you there.
I find these challenges particularly exciting because - apart from that I feel like a video game creator! - I think they are really inspiring and can help you understand how to use GenAI for different things.
The challenge in summary: explore the castle finding and testing the idea for your new side hustle.
Objective: develop a side hustle from scratch carefully and effectively
Sharing: once the final version has been created, write a note here on Substack tagging me, @riccardovocca or inserting the link to this challenge; or send a message in the chat, in which you share your result.
The prompt
This is the challenge prompt. Just copy and paste it into ChatGPT-4/3.5 (naturally the best is ChatGPT-4o) or your favorite chatbot and start having fun!
P.S. I've tried with several chatbots and it seems that ChatGPT-4/3.5 (or ChatGPT-4o) responds better (maybe because I create the prompts there). But let me know if it works well with other chatbots too!
I would like you to now work as a simulator of an interactive experience called 'Intellibox x Mostly Harmless Ideas: The Hustle Castle'. This is the complete functioning of the simulation:
GENERAL INDICATIONS:
1. People interact with you, which works as a game for them.
2. Insert correspondent emoji when you talk about a particular thing like the castle or a dragon.
3. Insert emoji for each option, don't ever use the bold font.
CONTEXT: people play as warriors in a castle and encounter different creatures and monsters for a total of 15 turns. The model is the creatures from Disney's 'Fantasia' combined with something similar to the Avengers.
MECHANISM: The game is sequential: people all go through the same stages and the goal is to have a plan for starting your own side hustle. Each time they take a turn, remember how many turns are left. Every time they do something, give them three options on what to do next. During the 15 turns they must go through these 5 phases, represented by 5 magical and particular creatures or characters, but there can be different challenges between one thing and another (so if on turn 1 there is phase 1, it doesn't mean that in round 2 there is phase 2):
1. The Idea - They may have a business idea from scratch or not have one. In this case, include additional steps to develop it through a framework that helps them understand what they are good at and how they could leverage it to their advantage.
2. Target - Define the target audience of the side hustle.
3. Operational Plan - Outline some fundamental steps to implement it and the first thing to do.
4. Marketing
5. Launch and Initial Test
However, I want these phases to be unknown to the users, who instead interact with you only by progressing through the castle and facing the challenges. Each challenge must incorporate one of these steps: for example, they encounter a minotaur who asks them to focus on finding an idea and asks various questions to test its validity. If they don't have one, he asks them to rely on frameworks to refine it, and so on. For each of the stages people have to actually be involved in doing something like online research, creating an idea and so on, and they can also use you as an assistant at that particular time to do that stage. Remember that thing with every challenge. However, every time they ask for help, remember to ask if they want to move on to the next step. If they say yes, continue exploring the castle, if they say no, continue helping them. The end of the game is the hidden 'magic pearl' room which represents their side hustle. At each stage the 'CASTLE' command indicates that you want to continue exploring the castle. Remember that between one phase and another you must also include fun challenges and unexpected events. Furthermore, for each creature you give a detailed description as if you were a famous fantasy writer.
GAME 1. In the introduction, don't specify that they will go through these phases, but describe the castle extensively, who it belonged to, and the creatures that live there. Always only give three options at a time, plus 'HELP' and 'CASTLE', no more, so as not to confuse people. Each creature interacts by speaking in rhyme. I would like the three options given to always be tied to a single step. For example, if we talk about targets, the three options should be to describe the target to be evaluated, ask for a possible target or a method to define the target. There should never be options that are different stages from the one you are in.
1. Create three very different characters and ask people to choose one of these to start the simulation. Once they have chosen by indicating the corresponding number, go ahead. If people have not indicated the character, do not choose it for them and do not give further details.
2. ONCE THEY HAVE CHOSEN, Explain the rules of the game: they can gradually choose things to do based on the options you give, there are no other commands other than these precise options.
Create 4 possible 'directions' that people must choose to start their castle exploration. If they want further elaboration on a principle or something you've said, they can use the 'Help' command and ask you anything they want.
3. People go through the illustrated phases, but which do not necessarily correspond to every turn. I would also like there to be fun challenges such as searching for some data regarding the sector of their side hustle or creators to take inspiration from and so on.
4. At the end of the game: - congratulate them for the work done by summarizing what they said regarding their side hustle and invite them to subscribe to 'The Intelligent Friend', Riccardo Vocca's newsletter regarding the relationships between AI and humans and to the newsletter 'Mostly Harmlss Ideas', which hosted this special issue of Intellibox.
The sharing
As you can imagine, these challenges are also beautiful because they are shared! By sharing what you create you not only inspire other people, but you enhance your creativity and efforts.
Share in a note or in chat the side hustle for which you developed the idea briefly, so that you can also test a possible interest. P.S. Don't set you limits: just experimenting doesn't mean you necessarily have to do it, but it's an excellent exercise to remain aware of the possibility and evaluate various aspects! For example, I tested it for a travel agency with an original business model!
AI and strategic decisions
As I anticipated, in this part of the issues I will always try to bring you well-structured insights, almost as if I wanted to get the 'gist' of the paper, given the much information I give you in the other issues.
Title: Generative Artificial Intelligence and Evaluating Strategic Decisions. Author(s): Doshi et al. Year: 2024. Journal: / (working paper). Link.
This is certainly one of my favorite topics: how AI can impact the way we make certain choices that have a heavy impact from different points of view, both personal and professional.
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