diff --git a/src/constants/chat.ts b/src/constants/chat.ts
index f2a3d0a..ee24154 100644
--- a/src/constants/chat.ts
+++ b/src/constants/chat.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ const dateString =
 
 // default system message obtained using the following method: https://twitter.com/DeminDimin/status/1619935545144279040
 export const _defaultSystemMessage = `You are ChatGPT, a large language model trained by OpenAI.
+Carefully heed the user's instructions. 
+Respond using Markdown.
 Knowledge cutoff: 2021-09
 Current date: ${dateString}`;