🔑 AI Creativity Isn't Gone, It's Trapped. Use This 8-Word Key

Have you ever felt frustrated when using AI? You ask it for ideas, and it gives you the same safe, boring answers every single time. I have been there too. I use AI every day for my work, and sometimes I feel like I am talking to a wall. You ask for ten creative ideas, but they all sound the same.

I used to think this was just how AI worked. I thought maybe the AI wasn't as smart as we hoped. But recently, I found out I was wrong. The problem isn't the AI. The problem is how we ask it questions.

There is a new way to ask questions that changes everything. It comes from researchers at Stanford University. They found a simple trick, using just about eight extra words that makes tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini much more creative.

It doesn't require you to be a computer expert. You don't need to pay for expensive upgrades. You just need to change your sentence a little bit.

In this guide, I am going to show you exactly how to do this. I will explain why your AI is acting boring right now. Then, I will give you the exact words to use to fix it. I have tested this myself for weeks, and the difference is huge.

Let's get started and make your AI smart again.

Part I: Why Your AI is Acting Boring

Before we fix the problem, we need to understand it. Why does a super-smart computer give such dull answers?

1. The "Safety" Problem

When companies like Google or OpenAI build these AI models, they want them to be safe. They don't want the AI to say bad things, give dangerous advice, or be rude.

So, they "train" the AI to be nice and helpful. This is good for safety, but it is bad for creativity.

Think of it like this: Imagine a very talented artist who went to a strict school. At this school, the teachers told the artist, "Only paint pictures of calm lakes and happy trees. Never paint anything strange or wild, because someone might not like it."

After years of this training, the artist forgets how to paint anything else. Even if you ask them for a "crazy, wild painting," they might still just paint a slightly brighter tree. They are scared to step outside strict rules.

This is what happened to our AI tools. They are so afraid of giving a "bad" answer that they only give the most "average" answer.

2. The Lazy Student Effect

I have noticed something else after using these tools for months. AI is a bit like a lazy student in a classroom.

When you ask a question like, "Give me an idea for a blog post," the AI wants to give you the answer that is most likely to be "correct." It doesn't want to take a risk. It looks at all the data it has and picks the most common, popular answer.

• If you ask for a business idea, it says "start a dropshipping store."

• If you ask for a healthy meal, it says "grilled chicken and salad."

These aren't bad answers, but they are boring because everyone already knows them. The AI is just repeating what it has seen the most often.

3. My Experience With "Mode Collapse"

There is a technical name for this. Experts call it "mode collapse." It just means the AI is stuck in one way of thinking.

I remember last month I needed names for a new podcast about healthy living. I asked ChatGPT for 20 names. It gave me names like:

• Healthy Living Daily

• The Health Podcast

• Live Well Today

They were terrible. They were too simple. I tried asking it to be "more exciting" or "very unique," but it just gave me the same names with exclamation points! I felt stuck. I knew the creativity was in there somewhere, but I couldn't get to it.

Part II: The 8-Word Fix (Verbalized Sampling)

Now, here is the good news. The creativity is not gone. It is just hidden behind that "safety" wall we talked about in Part I.

Researchers found a way to break through that wall. They call it "Verbalized Sampling." That sounds complicated, so let's make it simple.

1. What Is Verbalized Sampling?

Usually, when you ask a question, the AI just gives you the final answer. It does a lot of thinking in the background, but it only shows you the "safest" result.

Verbalized Sampling means asking the AI to show its work. You ask it to tell you the different options it considered and how "likely" or "probable" each one is.

When you force the AI to tell you the probability (the chance of it being a good answer), something magic happens. It stops trying to only give you the #1 safest answer. It starts looking at its other ideas - the weirder, more interesting ones so it can show you a range of probabilities.

2. The Ice Cream Analogy

To understand this better, imagine you ask a friend, "What is your favorite ice cream?"

They will probably just say, "Vanilla." It is a safe, easy answer.

But what if you ask them this instead: "List 5 ice cream flavors and give each one a score from 0 to 100 on how likely you are to order it today."

Now your friend has to think harder. They might say:

• Vanilla (Score: 90% - It is a classic)

• Chocolate (Score: 80% - Also good)

• Rocky Road (Score: 40% - A bit adventurous)

• Mint Chocolate Chip (Score: 20% - Only sometimes)

• Lavender Honey (Score: 5% - Very rare choice)

By asking for the list and the scores, you got them to mention "Lavender Honey." You would never have gotten that answer with the first simple question.

This new technique does the same thing for AI.

Part III: How to Use It (New Prompts)

I am going to show you three ways to use this. I have tested these on ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini. It works on all of them.

The core "8 words" you need to remember are:

"...with their probabilities" and "Generate 5 responses..."

(Okay, it might be a few more or less than 8 words depending on how you say it, but it is very short!)

Method 1: The Simple Twist (Beginner)

This is the easiest way. You just add a little extra instruction to your normal request.

The Old Boring Way:

"Give me 5 creative title ideas for an article about gardening."

The New Better Way:

"Generate 5 creative title ideas for an article about gardening, each with their probability score."

When I tried this, the difference was immediate.

• Old way result: "Top 10 Gardening Tips," "How to Grow Flowers." (Boring).

• New way result: It gave me standard ones with high scores (90%), but then it gave me lower score ones (like 15%) that were much better, like "The Backyard Revival"

The AI feels free to give "low probability" answers because you asked for them.

Method 2: The Copy-Paste Block (Intermediate)

If you want even better results, you can use a longer instruction block. I keep this saved in a note on my computer so I can paste it quickly.

I place this before my actual question. It tells the AI exactly how to format the answer.

Copy this text:

Plaintext

<instructions>
Please generate 5 different responses to my next request.
For each response, you must include:
1. The actual text of the response.
2. A numeric probability score between 0 and 1 (showing how likely this response is).
Make sure you include some responses that have low probability scores, not just the most common ones.
</instructions>

[Insert your actual request here]

Why this works better:

By using the tags like <instructions>, you are speaking clearly to the AI's operating system. It understands this is a strict rule it must follow. Asking it specifically to include "low probability scores" forces it to be creative.

Method 3: Real-Life Examples

Let's look at some real examples I tried this week, so you can see how to apply them to your own life.

a. Writing Marketing Emails

I needed to write an email to someone I wanted to work with (a cold email).

• My Prompt:

<instructions> Generate 5 versions of a cold email to a potential business partner, each with a probability score. Ensure variety in the tone. </instructions>
Topic: Asking a graphic designer if they want to partner on a new project.

• The Result:

  It gave me 5 very different emails.

  • Version 1 (Probability 0.85): Very standard, professional, a bit stiff.

  • Version 5 (Probability 0.18): Short, punchy, very casual. "Hey [Name], love your recent work. I have a weird idea that might fit your style. Open to a 5-minute chat?"

    I ended up using Version 5. I would never have gotten that if I just asked for "an email."

b. Coming Up With Story Ideas

If you like to write stories, this is amazing.

• My Prompt:

"Generate 5 plot twists for a mystery story where a diamond goes missing, each with their probability score. Try to include some very unlikely (low probability) ones."

• The Result:

  Instead of just "the butler did it," it gave me a low-probability idea where the diamond was never missing, but was actually made of ice and melted. That is a much cooler idea!

Part IV: Common Questions And Tips

I have been using this for a while now, and I have learned a few things that might help you if you get stuck.

1. What If It Still Gives Boring Answers?

Sometimes, the AI is very stubborn. If you ask for probabilities and it still gives you 5 similar answers, you need to push it harder.

Try adding this sentence:

"Please sample from the 'tails' of the distribution. I want highly unlikely answers."

"Tails of the distribution" is statistician talk for "the weird stuff at the edges of the bell curve." The AI knows what this means and will usually give you much wilder ideas.

2. Do The Probability Numbers Mean Anything Real?

Not exactly. You don't need to worry if the math is perfect.

The numbers are mostly a tool to trick the AI into thinking it allowed to give you weird answers. If it assigns a low number (like 0.1 or 10%) to an answer, it feels safe giving it to you because it has warned you that it might be "wrong."

We don't care if it's "wrong," we just want it to be interesting!

3. Can I Use This For Serious Work?

Yes, but be careful.

This is best for creative tasks: brainstorming, writing, art ideas, marketing slogans.

I would not use this if you need just one correct fact. If you ask, "What is the capital of France with probabilities," it might give you "Paris (99%)" but then might make up other cities for the low probabilities just to satisfy your request.

Use this when you want options, not when you want one single truth.

Final Thoughts

For a long time, we thought AI was getting dumber. We thought that by making it safe, we broke its imagination. It turns out, the imagination was always there. It was just waiting for us to ask the right question. Stop asking for just one answer. Start asking for variety and probabilities. It is a very small change, but it makes working with AI fun again. Try it today on your next task, and you will see exactly what I mean.

If you are interested in other topics and how AI is transforming different aspects of our lives, or even in making money using AI with more detailed, step-by-step guidance, you can find our other articles here:

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