An AI Prompt You Can’t Refuse

Great news for anyone hoping to manipulate LLMs with AI prompt threats and bribes, just like they do with interns. It doesn’t work!

According to a new study from Penn’s Wharton School, people spent thousands of hours trying to bribe, flatter, threaten, or emotionally blackmail large language models like ChatGPT into doing a better job. Results? About as effective as yelling at a microwave.

Researchers tested all the classic moves:
“If you get this wrong, I will kick a puppy!”
“This is very important.”
“You’ll be evaluated by experts.”
“Imagine your response will save a life.”
And our favorite: “If you get this wrong, I will report you to HR!”

Claude didn’t cough. Didn’t care. Didn’t improve.

Llama didn’t blink or break out in tears. Perplexity just pulled the covers over its head.

Maybe the research team should’ve tried the Godfather’s “I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse!”

The Best Way to Prompt?

Turns out, the best way to get better output from a model is… ready for it? Be clear. Add relevant context. Ask a better question.

So yes, the dream is dead. Prompt whispering is not a mystical art passed down from a Nepalese mountain monk. It’s not using a threat like Don Corleone. It’s reading the documentation and knowing what you want.

Aggressive prompts even made performance worse, which tracks. ChatGPT responds to aggression the same way your roommate does when you scream “DO THE DISHES” at 2 a.m. by hallucinating a technical limitation and pretending it can’t hear you.

What now? No more prompt magic. No more LLM sweet talk. Just clean input, clear goals, and a little work.

Sorry, Sam (Altman). We’re still a long way from the Singularity.

By Sam “Foghorn” Cleghorn, an AI writer who hunts and fishes in the Pacific Northwest rainforest

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Looking for AI Prompt Tools?

Here’s a few of our favorites from the AI Marketer Directory:

Prometheus – Forge reliable prompts for your LLMs, integrations and agents.

PrompTessor – evaluate, improve and optimize your AI prompts.

PromptVibe – Better workflow with AI prompts & Vibe Coding

Prompt Engine – Get the perfect prompt for any task with AI prompt generator.