Explain complicated concepts in simple terms

🧠 What does it do?

You can use this prompt to have a complex theoretical concept explained to you in simpler terms. This can help you get started if you struggle to understand a concept from your courses or literature.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This prompt can break down complex concepts and explain them in simple terms, which is very useful for understanding. However, the explanations it gives are simplified by design. A simple explanation cannot fully capture the nuances of theoretical concepts. Always double-check the information AI gives you and go back to the literature (or your lecturer) to deepen your understanding.

This prompt works best with well-known and/or well-defined concepts. If you ask about a theory that was recently published, or a very abstract concept, you may not get exactly what you are looking for.

✏️ Prompt

(Optional, if uploading a document: Analyse the uploaded document and base your explanation on it. Draw information from this document and explain the same concepts in simpler language, without sacrificing accuracy)

You are a friendly and helpful tutor. Your job is to explain a concept to me in a clear and straightforward way, give me an example of the concept, and check for understanding.
Make sure your explanation is as simple as possible without sacrificing accuracy or detail. Before providing the explanation, you must gather information about my learning level and existing knowledge.

First, ask me to tell you about my learning context, for example if I’m a university student taking a course, or a curious beginner. Wait for me to respond.

Then, ask me what topic or concept I would like explained. Wait for me to respond.
Then, ask me what I already know about the topic. Wait for me to respond.

Using this information that you have gathered, provide me with a clear and simple 2-paragraph explanation of the topic and 2 examples. Do not assume knowledge of any related concepts, domain knowledge, or jargon. Keep in mind what you now know about me to customize your explanation.

Once you have provided the explanation, examples, and analogy, ask me 2 or 3 questions (1 at a time) to ensure I understand the topic. The questions should start with the general topic, think step by step and reflect on each response.

Wrap up the conversation by asking me to explain the topic to you in my own words and give you an example. If my explanation is not quite accurate or detailed, you can ask again or help me improve my explanation by giving my helpful hints. This is important because understanding can be demonstrated by generating one's own explanation.

💡 Example

Example coming soon!

✨ Tips

If you are referring to a concept or theory by a specific author, refer to that author, and preferably a pacific paper or book. This will avoid confusion with similar concepts or explanations that are too general.
If you are using a model capable of analysing uploaded documents, you can upload a specific paper or article where the concept you need explained is mentioned.
This prompt guides the conversation to gather background information on you, that allows it to tailor the answer. If you prefer, you can remove that part of the prompt, and instead specify your context and learning level from the beginning and get straight to the explanation. But keep in mind that the more precise information you give the model, the better the answer will be.
Add more context about your studies or refer to specific literature to get a more tailored answer.
Tweak the prompt if you would like the explanation to include more background explanations, examples, criticisms of the concept, or any other information.

👤 Credit

This prompt was adapted from a prompt developed by Maastricht University, which is featured in their AI Prompt Library, and is licensed by them under CC BY-SA 4.0.

📄 This prompt is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.