Fix for OpenAI returning same response for same prompt

I have been working on a trivia app so that I can revise my concepts on software engineering since I am currently preparing for interviews. The idea was simple - I was using the openai API to get me a question with 4 options, a correct answer and some explanation regarding it. I displayed this in a form where you can then practice by clicking on the right option. A simple project. The only problem was that OpenAI kept sending the same response. I tried telling it to not repeat the same question by tweaking the prompt a bit but it didn't seem to work. Finally this is what I had to do - Topics - I made an array of topics and picked one topic at random from the array and sent it with the prompt. And now openAi started giving new responses. Not saying they are not repeated anymore but it much much better. Here is the prompt - { role: 'system', content: `Youareahelpfulassistantwhoiscreatingaquizapplicationrelatedto${ topic }ingeneral.Trynottorepeatthetopicsfrompreviousquestions.`, }, { role: 'user', content: `Createaquizquestionwith4optionsandonecorrectanswer.Thequestionshouldberelatedtotechnology.Itshouldhave4options.Itshouldhave1correctoption.Itshouldalsohaveasmalldescriptionorexplanationoftheanswer.TheresponsewillbeintheformofaJSONobjectwiththefollowingstructure: { question: "What is the capital of France?", options: [ "Paris", "London", "Berlin", "Madrid" ], answer: "Paris", explanation: "Paris is the capital of France." }Donotincludeanyothertextorexplanation.`, } If you guys want to check out the page here you go - https://express-quiz-app-4qqz.onrender.com/ Am constantly trying to improve on this as a hobby. Thank you if you have reached so far. Have a good day!

Apr 30, 2025 - 01:24

Fix for OpenAI returning same response for same prompt

I have been working on a trivia app so that I can revise my concepts on software engineering since I am currently preparing for interviews.

The idea was simple - I was using the openai API to get me a question with 4 options, a correct answer and some explanation regarding it.

I displayed this in a form where you can then practice by clicking on the right option. A simple project.

The only problem was that OpenAI kept sending the same response.

I tried telling it to not repeat the same question by tweaking the prompt a bit but it didn't seem to work.

Finally this is what I had to do -

Topics - I made an array of topics and picked one topic at random from the array and sent it with the prompt. And now openAi started giving new responses. Not saying they are not repeated anymore but it much much better.

Here is the prompt -

{
  role: 'system',
  content: `Youareahelpfulassistantwhoiscreatingaquizapplicationrelatedto${
    topic
  }ingeneral.Trynottorepeatthetopicsfrompreviousquestions.`,

},
{
  role: 'user',
  content: `Createaquizquestionwith4optionsandonecorrectanswer.Thequestionshouldberelatedtotechnology.Itshouldhave4options.Itshouldhave1correctoption.Itshouldalsohaveasmalldescriptionorexplanationoftheanswer.TheresponsewillbeintheformofaJSONobjectwiththefollowingstructure: {
    question: "What is the capital of France?",
    options: [
      "Paris",
      "London",
      "Berlin",
      "Madrid"
    ],
    answer: "Paris",
    explanation: "Paris is the capital of France."
  }Donotincludeanyothertextorexplanation.`,

}

If you guys want to check out the page here you go - https://express-quiz-app-4qqz.onrender.com/

Am constantly trying to improve on this as a hobby.

Thank you if you have reached so far. Have a good day!