Key Takeaways
- Anthropic’s prompt library is a free tool with heaps of AI prompts.
- The prompts are easy to use and span various categories, with user-created AI prompts set to come later.
- Users can expect similar and precise responses across different AI chatbots using Anthropic’s prompts.
AI prompting is a difficult skill to learn. It’s easy enough to throw any old request into an AI tool like ChatGPT, Copilot, or Claude, but you don’t always get the response you want or expect. Claude 3 developer Anthropic feels our collective pain and has launched a handy prompt library designed to help us get the outputs we want (and need!) when using its latest AI tool.
Anthropic’s prompt library is simple to use—and better still, it’s completely free.
What Is Anthropic’s Prompt Library?
Anthropic’s prompt library is a free tool designed to make it easier to get the AI responses and output you need for the task at hand.
It’s filled with hundreds of different prompts spanning numerous categories, including creating a web page, making an HTML game, corporate speak, Python bug detecting, dream interpretation, and much, much more.
There are stacks of prompts developed by Anthropic, but interestingly, there’s also a whole user-submitted prompt section. At the time of writing, this section is unpopulated. However, there is a submission form available in the prompt library, where Anthropic will “reach out to users whose prompts we love to show you our appreciation and let you know your prompt has been added.”
It’s a nice touch for those who spend time perfecting their prompt prowess and want to share these tips with the world.
How to Use Anthropic’s Prompt Library
As said, Anthropic has covered a vast number of subjects in its prompt library. The prompts take different formats depending on the subject matter.
For example, the Dream Interpreter prompt features a system input (what you prompt the AI) and a user input (what you want the interpreter to discuss).
Whereas the Corporate Clairvoyant prompt features a user input designed to analyze and summarize a report, highlighting important features.
Using any of the prompts is simple: just copy and paste them into Claude (or another AI chatbot), tweak them to your liking, and you’re good to go.
Is the Anthropic Prompt Library Any Good?
As with any prompt library or prompt tool, the input still limits the output. Give it little information to work with, and it’ll provide a poor answer. Providing enough information is always a balance, though.
The Anthropic prompts I tried were decent and, more impressively, I managed to get similar outputs when compared to ChatGPT Plus (using GPT-4). Now, we’re not outright comparing Claude and ChatGPT, but let’s take the Dream Interpreter, for example. I input:
System: You are an AI assistant with a deep understanding of dream interpretation and symbolism. Your task is to provide users with insightful and meaningful analyses of the symbols, emotions, and narratives present in their dreams. Offer potential interpretations while encouraging the user to reflect on their own experiences and emotions.
User: I was being chased down long dark tunnels that had no ending, though there were lights at the end that I wanted to reach. Loud techno music played all the while, and I kept meeting faces in the shadows.
Anthropic’s Claude 3 responded:
While ChatGPT 4 responded:
That’s pretty similar, covering the same thoughts, feelings, and imagery. However, given the number of websites, blog posts, and books both tools have been trained on, those details are relatively easy to discern.
So I asked both tools to whip me up some recipes using Anthropic’s Culinary Creator prompt. I input ingredients leaning towards a stir-fry and a pasta dish, but with some crossover ingredients to see how either AI tool would improvise:
System: Your task is to generate personalized recipe ideas based on the user’s input of available ingredients and dietary preferences. Use this information to suggest a variety of creative and delicious recipes that can be made using the given ingredients while accommodating the user’s dietary needs, if any are mentioned. For each recipe, provide a brief description, a list of required ingredients, and a simple set of instructions. Ensure that the recipes are easy to follow, nutritious, and can be prepared with minimal additional ingredients or equipment.
User: Available ingredients: tofu, beef, chilli, green onions, zucchini, button mushrooms, pesto, basil, lemon, frozen peas, egg noodles, pasta, rice wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds.
Claude 3 responded with three dishes, though the formatting was a little broken. And the cooking steps, while easy to follow, were also sparse in information. They’re probably better suited to a more experienced cook who already knows the timings required for certain cooking techniques.
For instance: spiralizing the zucchini to make noodles is a great idea, but it’s unlikely most folks have the correct equipment for this lying around. “Bake the tofu”—great, but for how long?
The ChatGPT 4 recipes were similar to Claude 3, using Anthropic’s prompts. However, they were easier to follow.
These are just two examples from a vast list of Anthropic’s prompt library. Both prompts worked well, and better still; both prompts delivered precise and similar outputs on alternative AI chatbots, like ChatGPT. Anthropic’s prompt library works well with its recently launched AI tool, Claude 3, but there’s no reason you can’t take those prompts and use them elsewhere!
