I asked ChatGPT-5 to take me behind the scenes of its brain — this is what I learned

1. What GPT-5 looks for in a prompt

While admitting that it couldn’t give me an all-access pass to its brain, ChatGPT said it could create a mock-up human-readable version of what’s going on behind the scenes when it tackles my prompts.

It explained that it starts by interpreting my prompt. It uses this information to activate relevant knowledge domains before going on to build a structured outline of its answer.

It also highlighted important information that helps add more context to a prompt, that have already been proven to work. Specifying who the target audience of the requested information is helps with phrasing the answer in a relevant way, as does suggesting the tone you want.

The GPT-5 also mentioned that any non-negotiables in your prompt should be highlighted early on. If you’re asking for help organizing an event and you have a strict budget, insert it in front of the rest of your text.

If you’re looking for the latest tech to buy but are only interested in new releases, slap the cutoff date at the top of your prompt.

2. Prompt formats

While prompts phrased as though you were speaking to your best friend work well with ChatGPT, the chatbot also revealed that phrasing prompts in the style of a JSON (a specific way of formatting text that resembles code) template could also be an efficient way to communicate when you want to insert multiple strict parameters.

While using such a template may make it harder for you to read through your own prompt, it does have the benefit of potentially making it easier for you to spot if you’ve left any key requirements out of your prompt.

In one section of ChatGPT’s proposed template, you could clarify what websites and topics the chatbot is and isn’t allowed to make use of. Another section dealt with setting the knowledge level for the output and what the maximum word count should be.

To create your own template, use this prompt: "Create a fill-in-ready, universal JSON template that I can use for future ChatGPT prompts."

If you don’t feel the need to be this granular in your prompts, it’s enough to keep in mind the basic principles and AI tips the template emphasizes. Re-read your prompt and ask yourself if any parts of it can be specified further.

In your next prompt, instead of asking for a summary of a piece of text, ask for a 200-word paragraph instead.

3. What could go wrong?

While asking ChatGPT to reveal its complete chain of thought wouldn’t work, I did gain some insights into what mistakes it could potentially make were it to misinterpret a prompt.

These include the following:

4. Few-shot prompting

While asking ChatGPT to make an exhaustive list of everything it’s considering when answering a prompt, it confirmed that a technique known as few-shot prompting works. This involves sharing examples of what your ideal output looks like.

“If you have a very particular output style in mind, showing a quick example often guides ChatGPT more effectively than any amount of abstract instruction,” ChatGPT explained.

So, if you always reply to emails in the same way, uploading a couple of examples could go a long way in helping ChatGPT craft responses that you’d actually use.