Difficulty using ChatGPT to map two lists in different languages

I have decided to try out Chat GPT to help me get through some work-drudgery. However, I might need help using it properly. I am asking it to map one list of entries onto a second list of entries. The two lists are in different languages. The problem I am facing is that ChatGPT insists on using entries that were not given to it in the original list. Instead it picks a translation and puts it in. I have tried warning and correcting it several times. It seems to understand what I need, removes the mistakes I point out but as it moves on with the list again, just imports more.

I am having a blast using ChatGPT, but frankly, this was one of the simplest use-cases for a language model and it’s dissapointing that I’m having so much trouble getting it to work. I would appreciate any recommendations in perhaps changing my instructions.

1 Like

Options

  1. Use shorter list - Break the list into short list, submit to ChatGPT as multiple prompts, then reconstruct original list from fragments.
  2. Separate entries with blank lines
  3. Use bullet points - Putting a * at the start of each item may indicate to ChatGPT that it is a list item and is to be treated as such.
  4. Format and punctuation may have unintended meaning - People think in words and pay less attention to formatting and punctuation when thinking. However ChatGPT is not a person, it learned differently and to it tokens like punctuation and formatting make a difference. Also the way the training data was presented and the way the prompt is converted may not be consistent. What you think is a list in the prompt might be becoming sentences after the parsing of the prompt.
  5. Use a combination of the above

HTH

2 Likes