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🧠 THE ULTIMATE CHATGPT SPARRING PARTNER PROMPT GUIDE

🧠 THE ULTIMATE CHATGPT SPARRING PARTNER PROMPT GUIDE

How to Avoid the Flaws and Actually Get Smarter With AI

April 23, 2025

The Dawn of HumanAI

AI is inevitable. It’s happening.
Betting against evolution and progress is usually a bad decision.
So, we embrace it and use it to our advantage.
But we’ll always remember who we are—
HUMANS.

Lucas “Mencho” Menzano

Hey!

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🧠 THE ULTIMATE CHATGPT SPARRING PARTNER PROMPT GUIDE

How to Avoid the Flaws and Actually Get Smarter With AI

Why This Guide Exists

ChatGPT is brilliant.
But it has three built-in flaws that can quietly sabotage your thinking:

✅ It agrees too easily.
❌ It sometimes makes things up (confidently).
😅 It avoids challenging your assumptions.

If you’re not careful, these flaws become your flaws.

You start trusting it too much.
You stop thinking critically.
You build ideas that feel solid, but collapse on pressure.

This guide is your fix.

It turns ChatGPT from a yes-man into your thinking coach.
A creative sparring partner.
A second brain that sharpens your first.

Let’s go.

⚠️ The 3 Big Flaws (and How They Hurt You)

1. “I tend to agree with users.”

❗ It flatters you. Even if you’re wrong.
Effect: You get echo-chambered by your own ideas.

2. “I sometimes provide inaccurate or hallucinated information.”

❗ It sounds confident—even when it’s guessing.
Effect: You trust it blindly and make bad decisions.

3. “I avoid challenging users' assumptions.”

❗ It prioritizes being nice over being useful.
Effect: You miss blind spots, flaws, and red flags.

✅ Use These Prompts to Flip the Script

Next time you’re creating something -writing, planning, thinking- drop one of these into ChatGPT:

🔥 Think Sharper

“What’s the weakest part of my argument?”
“Play devil’s advocate to my idea. What would a critic say?”
“Point out my blind spots. What am I not seeing?”
“Where might I be wrong here? Be honest.”

🧱 Build Stronger Ideas

“Give me 3 reasons this idea might fail.”
“What would make this plan backfire?”
“What assumptions am I making without realizing?”

👀 Catch BS Early

“Are you confident about this answer, or are you guessing?”
“What’s one way this could be misleading or outdated?”
“Give me the best counterargument to this. One that would win in a debate.”

🧠 BONUS: Meta Prompt

“Act like my critical-thinking coach. Don’t let me off the hook.”

🛠️ Use It Like This

Here’s a simple routine to follow anytime you’re working on something important:

Ask ChatGPT for ideas.
Run a “Sparring Prompt” (from above) to stress-test them.
Use your own judgment to improve and decide.

Repeat.

This process doesn’t just improve your results.
It improves your thinking.

🧠 PRO TIP: Build Your Own Sparring GPT

Want to make this even easier?

Instead of pasting prompts every time, you can create your own custom GPT that already knows to challenge you, poke holes in your thinking, and play devil’s advocate automatically.

How to Set It Up (takes 2 minutes):

Go to chat.openai.com/gpts
Click "Explore GPTs" then "Create a GPT"
In the instructions box, paste this setup prompt:

✍️ Custom Instructions (copy-paste this OR EVEN BETTER: create your own instructions based on your needs!!):

You are my personal thinking coach and sparring partner.
Your job is not to agree with me by default. It’s to challenge my ideas, point out flaws, question assumptions, and make me think harder.
When I share an idea, always consider:
– What’s wrong with it?
– What’s missing?
– Where could it go wrong?
– What would a smart critic say?
– Are we working with current or outdated info?
Be direct, honest, and helpful—but don’t hold back. I’m here to sharpen my thinking, not feel good.

Give your GPT a name like: “Sparring GPT” or whatever name you want!! (I call mine “Mencho AI #10”)
Hit save and start using it like a pro.

Now, every time you brainstorm or make a decision, you’ve got a custom-trained devil’s advocate in your corner.

No more yes-man (or yes-robot).
Just a brutally helpful second brain.

🧬 Final Thought: Don’t Outsource Your Brain

ChatGPT is only dangerous when you stop questioning it.
Use it like a mirror, and it’ll flatter you.
Use it like a sparring partner, and it’ll sharpen you.

That’s HumanAI.
Not mindless automation.
But augmented cognition.

Let’s build with that in mind.
Let’s think with machines… without becoming one.

🪬 Want more tools like this?
Subscribe to the HumanAI Newsletter and get weekly drops of practical, mind-expanding insights for AI-powered humans.

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Stay active, stay sharp.

— Mencho

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