Every so often, I stumble across a ChatGPT prompt that completely surprises me and changes the way I use AI.
Earlier today, I was scrolling through Reddit when I stumbled across a post titled, ‘The one prompt that unlocked ChatGPT-4o’s full power for me.’
Now, if you spend any time on Reddit, you’ll know that most thread titles are absolutely blown out of proportion, and so I fully expected this prompt to not only not ‘unlock’ ChatGPT, but to barely give me any more power. Surprisingly, though, I discovered that the prompt is actually useful, and does make ChatGPT 4o more powerful.
Want to try the prompt for yourself? I won’t make you keep reading to see it, but if you do want to know why I think it’s worth trying out, then read on below.
The Prompt: “I’m having a persistent problem with [x] despite having taken all the necessary countermeasures I could think of. Ask me enough questions about the problem to find a new approach.”
How does this prompt ‘unlock’ ChatGPT?
As an ex-Apple Store Genius Bar employee, I thought the best way to try the power of this new problem-solving prompt was to ask a generic iPhone-related question that I used to here at least 10 times a day in my old job.
So I asked ChatGPT, “I’m having a persistent problem with my iPhone’s battery life despite having taken all the necessary countermeasures I could think of. Ask me enough questions about the problem to find a new approach.”
ChatGPT responded with 18 questions related to my battery life that I would have probably used myself during my time as a Genius. It asked specific details related to my iPhone software, the steps I had tried so far, and the exact experience I was having with my battery.
After troubleshooting with me, ChatGPT identified that the issues causing my iPhone battery to drain at a rapid rate was, in fact, the iOS 26 developer beta (I knew this was the case, but I wanted to see if ChatGPT could decipher that on its own, which it did).
This might not sound especially game changing, but the way ChatGPT was able to work alongside me to pinpoint a solution to a problem was impressive, and actually did improve my experience with the chatbot.
The original Reddit thread was posted by u/speak2klein, who said, “What makes this so good is 4o’s insane ability to ask the right follow-ups. Its context tracking and reasoning are miles ahead of earlier versions of ChatGPT.”
Tempted to try it for yourself? Give this prompt a try and let me know the results in the comments section below. I know I’ll be using it on a regular basis; after all, ChatGPT’s main skill, in my opinion, is its ability to help you rationalize your own thoughts and help you find your own solutions to problems.