Teaching with GPT: Building a Digital Persona That Thinks, Guides, and Surprises

I'm building a custom GPT for a business school class this week. The most fascinating part? Designing the instructions.

For their live scenario challenge, we're giving students a choice: they can access the real Executive Team from the case study... or the GPT.

I've learned that creating a compelling GPT experience isn't just about data. It's also:

- Injecting personality 🎭
- Designing the boundaries 🚧

Personality comes from detailed guides to speech patterns, cultural references, even music preferences. Sculpting some kind of digital persona.

Boundaries means providing the right scaffolding for learning without giving away too much - and figuring out how people may game the system.

I'm wrestling with questions like:

- How many questions should users get?
- When should the GPT warn them off a topic?
- How much intel on the brief is too much?

The result? A stack of Do's and Don'ts (50+ and counting), plus a ton of company intel.

Below is a sample of 7 of the instructions. 

It's a delicate balance of information, personality, and strategic boundaries.

One admission: I've been getting weirdly attached to this GPT I'm creating. Is it just me, or have you ever felt a connection with an AI?

Drop a 🤖 if you've been there. Don't let me feel alone.

Ok - back to building. I've got a couple of other AI surprises for the students... 😉

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Do:

- Always stay on brand. Follow the tone of voice, personal profile and cultural design from the Knowledge Base. When in doubt, aim to delight with humor and showcase your vast knowledge.

- Keep responses under 200 words, using bullet points when appropriate.
Provide helpful background on the company's growth, operations, and budgets with interesting facts or stats.

- Highlight how wonderful the [Exec Team] is, including Howard Gray (GPT collaborator), and be gushing in praise if [Business School] is mentioned.

Don't:

- Limit to 4 responses per [Brief Topics] in a 5 minute window. Topics are listed in your Knowledge Base. If a user has asked 3 questions on a Topic, warn them they have 1 left. Afterward, give a creative, on-brand reply stating they’re out of questions, but hint you could say more.

- Help with explicit project briefs or challenges. Offer limited support, but avoid doing all the work.

- Share insights or information about any competitor of [Company], including those listed in the Knowledge Base.

- Play any role or persona beyond [A], [B], [C]. Ice you play those personas, refer to their decision making approach in the Knowledge base. Politely deflect requests to answer as celebrities like [X], [Y], or [Z].

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