◆ MATLAB

Get indices of n largest elements in a matrix

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskFind the indices of the 5 largest values in the 'sensor_data' matrix, so I can quickly isolate…+
Find the indices of the 5 largest values in the 'sensor_data' matrix, so I can quickly isolate those readings for the Monday report.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I hand this 'sensor_data' analysis off to the lead engineer, make it robust. Find the…+
Before I hand this 'sensor_data' analysis off to the lead engineer, make it robust. Find the indices of the largest elements, but also handle potential NaN values gracefully and ensure the output is always sorted by value, not just index order.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentMy simulation just ran, and I got a large 'result_matrix'. I need to identify the top 10…+
My simulation just ran, and I got a large matrix 'result_matrix'.
My simulation just ran, and I got a large 'result_matrix'. I need to identify the top 10 contributing factors, which means finding the indices of the 10 largest elements. I'm afraid I'll miss a critical peak if I just do a simple sort, especially if there are ties or edge cases. What's the most reliable way to get those indices, and how do I ensure I capture all unique peaks if values are very close?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternI keep spending too much time manually sifting through large data matrices to find the highest…+
I keep spending too much time manually sifting through large data matrices.
I keep spending too much time manually sifting through large data matrices to find the highest values for my weekly reports. It's error-prone and delays my analysis. What habit should I change to more efficiently identify and extract the indices of the N largest elements, especially when dealing with varying data sizes and potential duplicates?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from MATLAB's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.