SlideShare a Scribd company logo
1 of 30
Download to read offline
1/30
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering
leewayhertz.com/prompt-engineering
In the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape, Large Language Models (LLMs), with
OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the helm, have achieved remarkable prominence.
The technology demonstrates how the innovative use of language, coupled with
computational power, can redefine human-machine interactions. The driving force behind
this surge is ‘prompt engineering,’ an intricate process that involves crafting text prompts to
effectively guide LLMs towards accurate task completion, eliminating the need for extra
model training.
The effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) can be greatly enhanced through
carefully crafted prompts. These prompts play a crucial role in extracting superior
performance and accuracy from language models. With well-designed prompts, LLMs can
bring about transformative outcomes in both research and industrial applications. This
enhanced proficiency enables LLMs to excel in a wide range of tasks, including complex
question answering systems, arithmetic reasoning algorithms, and numerous others.
However, prompt engineering is not solely about crafting clever prompts. It is a
multidimensional field that encompasses a wide range of skills and methodologies essential
for the development of robust and effective LLMs and interaction with them. Prompt
engineering involves incorporating safety measures, integrating domain-specific knowledge,
and enhancing the performance of LLMs through the use of customized tools. These various
aspects of prompt engineering are crucial for ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of
LLMs in real-world applications.
With a growing interest in unlocking the full potential of LLMs, there is a pressing need for a
comprehensive, technically nuanced guide to prompt engineering. In the following sections,
we will delve into the core principles of prompting and explore advanced techniques for
crafting effective prompts.
What is prompt engineering and what are its uses?
Importance of prompt engineering in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and artificial
intelligence
Prompt engineering techniques
Prompt engineering: The step-by-step process
Key elements of a prompt
How to design prompts?
Prompt engineering best practices
Applications of prompt engineering
Risks associated with prompting and solutions
2/30
What is prompt engineering and what are its uses?
Prompt engineering is the practice of designing and refining specific text prompts to guide
transformer-based language models, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), in generating
desired outputs. It involves crafting clear and specific instructions and allowing the model
sufficient time to process information. By carefully engineering prompts, practitioners can
harness the capabilities of LLMs to achieve different goals.
The process of prompt engineering entails analyzing data and task requirements, designing
and refining prompts, and fine-tuning the language model based on these prompts.
Adjustments to prompt parameters, such as length, complexity, format, and structure, are
made to optimize model performance for the specific task at hand.
Professionals in the field of artificial intelligence, including researchers, data scientists,
machine learning engineers, and natural language processing experts, utilize prompt
engineering to improve the performance and capabilities of LLMs and other AI models. It has
applications in various domains, such as improving customer experience in e-commerce,
enhancing healthcare applications, and building better conversational AI systems.
Successful examples of prompt engineering include OpenAI’s GPT-3 model for translation
and creative writing, Google’s Smart Reply feature for automated message responses, and
DeepMind’s AlphaGo for playing the game of Go at a high level. In each case, carefully
crafted prompts were used to train the models and guide their outputs to achieve specific
objectives.
Prompt engineering is crucial for controlling and guiding the outputs of LLMs, ensuring
coherence, relevance, and accuracy in generated responses. It helps practitioners
understand the limitations of the models and refine them accordingly, maximizing their
potential while mitigating unwanted creative deviations or biases.
Isa Fulford and Andrew Ng outlined two principal aspects of prompt engineering in their
ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers course:
1. Formulation of clear and specific instructions: This principle stresses the importance of
conciseness and specificity in the prompt construction. Clear prompts assist the model
in precisely understanding the required task, thus leading to a more accurate and
relevant output.
2. Allowing the model time to “Think”: This principle underscores the significance of giving
the model enough time to process the given information. Incorporating pauses or
“thinking time” in the prompts can help the model better process and interpret the input,
leading to an improved output.
3/30
Given the complex nature of LLMs and their inherent tendency to ‘hallucinate,’ carefully
designed and controlled prompts can help manage these occurrences. Prompt engineering,
therefore, plays a crucial role in maximizing the potential of LLMs and mitigating any
unwanted creative deviations.
Prompt
Input
Output
Generated Text
Language
Model
LeewayHertz
Prompts used for various AI tasks
This section provides examples of how prompts are used for different tasks and introduces
key concepts relevant to advanced sections.
Task Example Prompt Possible Output
Text
Summarization
Explain antibiotics. Antibiotics are medications used to
treat bacterial infections…
Information
Extraction
Mention the large language model
based product mentioned in the
paragraph.
The large language model based
product mentioned in the
paragraph is ChatGPT.
Question
Answering
Answer the question based on the
context below.
It was approved to help prevent
organ rejection after kidney
transplants.
Text
Classification
Classify the text into neutral,
negative, or positive.
Neutral
Conversation The following is a conversation
with an AI research assistant.
Black holes are regions of
spacetime where gravity is
extremely strong…
Code
Generation
Ask the user for their name and
say “Hello.”
let name = prompt(“What is your
name?”); console.log(Hello,
${name}!);
4/30
Task Example Prompt Possible Output
Reasoning The odd numbers in this group
add up to an even number: 15, 32,
5, 13, 82, 7, 1.
No, the odd numbers in this group
add up to an odd number: 119.
These examples demonstrate how well-crafted prompts can be utilized for various AI tasks,
ranging from text summarization and information extraction to question answering, text
classification, conversation, code generation, and reasoning. By providing clear instructions
and relevant context in the prompts, we can guide the language model to generate desired
outputs.
Importance of prompt engineering in Natural Language Processing
(NLP) and artificial intelligence
In the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), prompt
engineering has rapidly emerged as an essential aspect due to its transformative role in
optimizing and controlling the performance of language models.
Maximizing model efficiency: While current transformer-based language models like
GPT-3 or Google’s PaLM 2 possess a high degree of intelligence, they are not
inherently task-specific. As such, they need well-crafted prompts to effectively generate
the desired outputs. An intelligently designed prompt ensures that the model’s
capabilities are utilized optimally, leading to the production of relevant, accurate, and
high-quality responses. Thus, prompt engineering allows developers to harness the full
potential of these advanced models without the need for extensive re-training or fine-
tuning.
Enhancing task-specific performance: The goal of AI is to enable machines to
perform as closely as possible to, or even surpass, human levels. Prompt engineering
enables AI models to provide more nuanced, context-aware responses, making them
more efficient for specific tasks. Whether it’s language translation, sentiment analysis,
or text generation, prompt engineering helps to align the model’s output with the task’s
requirements.
Understanding model limitations: Working with prompts can provide insight into the
limitations of a language model. Through iterative refining of prompts and studying the
responses of the model, we can understand its strengths and weaknesses. This
knowledge can guide future model development, feature enhancement, and even lead
to new approaches in NLP.
Increasing model safety: AI safety is an important concern, especially when using
language models for public-facing applications. A poorly designed prompt might lead
the model to generate inappropriate or harmful content. Skilled prompt engineering can
help prevent such issues, making the AI model safer to use.
5/30
Enabling resource efficiency: Training large language models demands considerable
computational resources. However, with effective prompt engineering, developers can
significantly improve the performance of a pre-trained model without additional
resource-intensive training. This not only makes the AI development process more
resource-efficient but also more accessible to those with limited computational
resources.
Facilitating domain-specific knowledge transfer: Through skilled prompt
engineering, developers can imbue language models with domain-specific knowledge,
allowing them to perform more effectively in specialized fields such as medical, legal, or
technical contexts.
In a nutshell, prompt engineering is crucial for the effective utilization of large language
models in NLP-based and other tasks, helping to maximize model performance, ensure
safety, conserve resources, and improve domain-specific outputs. As we move forward into
an era where AI is increasingly integrated into daily life, the importance of this field will only
continue to grow.
Prompt engineering techniques
Prompt engineering, an emergent area of research that has seen considerable
advancements since 2022, employs a number of novel techniques to enhance the
performance of language models. Each of these techniques brings a unique approach to
instructing large language models, highlighting the versatility and adaptability inherent in the
field of prompt engineering. They form the foundation for effectively communicating with
these models, shaping their output, and harnessing their capabilities to their fullest
potential. Some of the most useful methods widely implemented in this field are:
N-shot prompting (zero-shot prompting and few-shot prompting)
The term “N-shot prompting” is used to represent a spectrum of approaches where N
symbolizes the count of examples or cues given to the language model to assist in
generating predictions. This spectrum includes, notably, zero-shot prompting and few-shot
prompting.
Zero-shot prompting refers to a situation where the language model generates
predictions without any explicit, additional examples. It’s particularly effective for tasks
the model has been extensively trained on, including but not limited to, classification
tasks like sentiment analysis or spam detection, text transformation tasks like
translation or summarization, and simple text generation.
Let’s consider the task of sentiment analysis where the model is given a sentence and is
expected to classify the sentiment as positive, negative, or neutral. In this case, we could
directly ask the model without providing any explicit training examples. This would be an
6/30
instance of zero-shot prompting. Here is how it might look:
Input prompt to the model:
"What is the sentiment of the following sentence: 'I had an amazing day at the park'?"
Given that the language model has been extensively trained on understanding sentiments
during its initial training, it can typically respond to such a prompt accurately, despite not
receiving specific examples in this context. The expected response would be:
Model’s response:
"The sentiment of the sentence is positive."
In this scenario, we haven’t provided any training examples or clues. We are directly asking
the model to perform the task, hence it’s a zero-shot prompt.
On the other hand, few-shot prompting employs a limited set of examples, usually
ranging from two to five, to guide the model’s output. These instances are designed to
direct the model towards improved performance in addressing more context-specific
problems. By offering a snapshot of the desired output, few-shot prompts enable the
model to tailor its responses more effectively, thus increasing the accuracy of its
predictions.
Let’s consider the task of generating a rhymed couplet (two-line verse) about a given topic,
which is a more context-specific task and might benefit from few-shot prompting. Here is how
it might look:
Input prompt to the model:
"Write a rhymed couplet about a sunflower:
Example 1:
'Sunflower with petals bright,
Basking gladly in the sunlight.'
Example 2:
'Sunflower tall in the summer glow,
Nodding as the breezes blow.'
Now, write a rhymed couplet about a moonlit night."
7/30
Here, we are providing the model with two examples of how to write a rhymed couplet about
a specific topic, in this case, a sunflower. These examples serve as context and steer the
model towards the desired output. They essentially “tell” the model what we expect from it.
The model, given its extensive training data and the two specific examples (few-shot
prompting), is expected to generate a similar rhymed couplet about a moonlit night. The
response could be:
Model’s response:
"Moonlight spreading its silver light,
Bathing the world in a tranquil night."
In this scenario, we have provided a few examples or clues before asking the model to
perform the task, hence it’s a few-shot prompt.
Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting
Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting, a technique introduced by Google researchers, operates
on the concept of encouraging an AI model to elucidate intermediate reasoning stages
before delivering the final answer to a multi-stage issue. The objective is to design the
model’s reasoning trajectory to resemble the intuitive cognitive process one would employ
while tackling a complex problem involving multiple steps. This procedure allows the model
to dissect intricate problems into simpler components, thereby enabling it to address
challenging reasoning tasks that traditional prompting methods might not handle effectively.
Let’s consider a complex problem-solving example in which Chain-of-thought (CoT)
prompting can be applied.
Consider a prompt where we want a language model to solve a multi-step math word
problem like this:
"John has 10 apples. He gives 3 apples to his friend Sam and then buys 6 more apples from
the market. How many apples does John have now?"
Using Chain-of-thought prompting, we would split the problem into simpler intermediate
steps:
Initial Prompt: "John has 10 apples." Intermediate Prompt: "How many apples does John
have if he gives 3 to Sam?" Intermediate Answer: "John has 7 apples."
Initial Prompt: "John has 7 apples." Intermediate Prompt: "How many apples will John have if
he buys 6 more apples from the market?" Intermediate Answer: "John has 13 apples."
Finally, we have the answer to the original complex problem: “John has 13 apples now.”
8/30
The chain-of-thought prompting method breaks down the problem into manageable pieces,
allowing the model to reason through each step and then build up to the final answer. This
method helps to increase the model’s problem-solving capabilities and overall understanding
of complex tasks.
There are several innovative adaptations of chain-of-thought prompting, including:
Self-consistency prompting: This variation involves creating multiple diverse paths of
reasoning and selecting answers that show the highest level of consistency. This
method ensures increased precision and dependability in answers by implementing a
consensus-based system.
Let’s consider an example where we use self-consistency prompting in a scenario involving
decision-making based on diverse reasoning paths.
Let’s assume we are asking a language model to predict the best holiday destination
considering the following variables: budget, proximity, weather, and activities. The resulting
question could be:
"What would be the best holiday destination considering a budget of $3000, a preference for
warm weather, and a love for beach activities?"
We then sample diverse reasoning paths:
Path 1: Initial prompt: "Considering a budget of $3000 and a preference for warm weather."
Intermediate answer: "A tropical destination would fit these criteria. Let's consider Bali."
Following prompt: "What about considering beach activities?" Final answer: "Bali is
renowned for its beach activities. So, it could be the best choice."
Path 2: Initial prompt: "Considering a preference for warm weather and a love for beach
activities." Intermediate answer: "Hawaii is well-known for its excellent weather and beach
activities."
Following prompt: "Considering a budget of $3000, is Hawaii a good choice?" Final answer:
"Yes, Hawaii could be a great choice considering all three factors."
Path 3: Initial prompt: "Considering a budget of $3000 and a love for beach activities."
Intermediate answer: "Considering these factors, the Bahamas could be a great destination."
Following prompt:
"Considering a preference for warm weather, is the Bahamas a good choice?"
Final answer:
9/30
"Indeed, the Bahamas is known for its warm weather. So, it could be the best choice."
In this case, all paths led to valid holiday destinations. To make a decision, we then apply a
majority voting system, wherein the most consistent answer would be chosen as the final
output of the self-consistency prompting process. Given the diversity of the prompts, the
most consistent destination can be considered the most suitable for the given conditions.
Least-to-most prompting (LtM): Here, the chain-of-thought technique begins by
fragmenting a problem into a series of less complex sub-problems. The model then
solves them in an ordered sequence. Each subsequent sub-problem is solved using
the solutions to previously addressed sub-problems. This methodology is motivated by
real-world teaching strategies used in educating children.
Let’s consider an example where we use least-to-most prompting in the context of solving a
mathematical word problem. The problem is: “John has twice as many apples as Jane. Jane
has 5 apples. How many apples does John have?”
In the least-to-most prompting approach, we would break down this problem into simpler
subproblems and solve them sequentially.
First subproblem: Initial prompt:
"Jane has 5 apples." Intermediate answer: "So, the number of apples Jane has is 5."
Second Subproblem: Initial prompt:
"John has twice as many apples as Jane."
Intermediate answer:
"So, John has 2 times the number of apples that Jane has."
Third Subproblem: Initial prompt:
"Given that Jane has 5 apples and John has twice as many apples as Jane, how many
apples does John have?"
Final answer:
"John has 2 * 5 = 10 apples."
In this way, the least-to-most prompting technique decomposes a complex problem into
simpler subproblems and builds upon the answers to previously solved subproblems to
arrive at the final answer.
10/30
Active prompting: This technique scales the CoT approach by identifying the most
crucial and beneficial questions for human annotation. Initially, the model computes the
uncertainty present in the LLM’s predictions, then it selects the questions that contain
the highest uncertainty. These questions are sent for human annotation, after which
they are integrated into a CoT prompt.
Active prompting involves identifying and selecting uncertain questions for human
annotation. Let’s consider an example from the perspective of a language model engaged in
a conversation about climate change.
Let’s assume our model has identified three potential questions that could be generated from
its current conversation, with varying levels of uncertainty:
1. What is the average global temperature?
2. What are the primary causes of global warming?
3. How does carbon dioxide contribute to the greenhouse effect?
In this scenario, the model might be relatively confident about the answers to the first two
questions, since these are common questions about the topic. However, it might be less
certain about the specifics of how carbon dioxide contributes to the greenhouse effect.
Active prompting would identify the third question as the most uncertain, and thus most
valuable for human annotation. After this question is selected, a human would provide the
model with the information required to correctly answer the question. The annotated question
and answer would then be added to the model’s prompt, enabling it to better handle similar
questions in the future.
Generated knowledge prompting
Generated knowledge prompting operates on the principle of leveraging a large language
model’s ability to produce potentially beneficial information related to a given prompt. The
concept is to let the language model offer additional knowledge which can then be used to
shape a more informed, contextual, and precise final response.
For instance, if we are using a language model to provide answers to complex technical
questions, we might first use a prompt that asks the model to generate an overview or
explanation of the topic related to the question.
Suppose the question is: “Can you explain how quantum entanglement works in quantum
computing?”
We might first prompt the model with a question like, “Provide an overview of quantum
entanglement.” The model might generate a response detailing the basics of quantum
entanglement.
11/30
We would then use this generated knowledge as part of our next prompt. We might ask:
“Given that quantum entanglement involves the instantaneous connection between two
particles regardless of distance, how does this concept apply in quantum computing?”
By using generated knowledge prompting in this way, we are able to facilitate more informed,
accurate, and contextually aware responses from the language model.
Directional stimulus prompting
Directional stimulus prompting is another advanced technique in the field of prompt
engineering where the aim is to direct the language model’s response in a specific manner.
This technique can be particularly useful when you are seeking an output that has a certain
format, structure, or tone.
For instance, suppose you want the model to generate a concise summary of a given text.
Using a directional stimulus prompt, you might specify not only the task (“summarize this
text”) but also the desired outcome, by adding additional instructions such as “in one
sentence” or “in less than 50 words”. This helps to direct the model towards generating a
summary that aligns with your requirements.
Here is an example: Given a news article about a new product launch, instead of asking the
model “Summarize this article,” you might use a directional stimulus prompt such as
“Summarize this article in a single sentence that could be used as a headline.”
Another example could be in generating rhymes. Instead of asking, “Generate a rhyme,” a
directional stimulus prompt might be, “Generate a rhyme in the style of Dr. Seuss about
friendship.”
By providing clear, specific instructions within the prompt, directional stimulus prompting
helps guide the language model to generate output that aligns closely with your specific
needs and preferences.
ReAct prompting
ReAct prompting is a technique inspired by the way humans learn new tasks and make
decisions through a combination of “reasoning” and “acting”. This innovative methodology
seeks to address the limitations of previous methods like Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting,
which, despite its ability to generate reasonable answers for various tasks, has issues
related to fact hallucination and error propagation due to its lack of interaction with external
environments and inability to update its knowledge.
ReAct prompting pushes the boundaries of large language models by prompting them to not
only generate verbal reasoning traces but also actions related to the task at hand. This
hybrid approach enables the model to dynamically reason and adapt its plans while
12/30
interacting with external environments, such as databases, APIs, or in simpler cases,
information-rich sites like Wikipedia.
For example, if we task an LLM with the goal of creating a detailed report on the current state
of artificial intelligence, using ReAct prompting, the model would not just generate responses
based on its pre-existing knowledge. Instead, it would plan a sequence of actions, such as
fetching the latest AI research papers from a database or querying for recent news on AI
from reputable sources. It would then integrate this up-to-date information into its reasoning
process, resulting in a more accurate and comprehensive report. This two-pronged approach
of acting and reasoning can mitigate the limitations observed in prior prompting methods and
empower LLMs with enhanced accuracy and depth.
Consider a scenario where a user wants to know the current state of a particular stock. Using
the ReAct prompting technique, the task might unfold in the following steps:
1. Step 1 (Reasoning): The LLM determines that to fulfill this request, it needs to fetch
the most recent stock information. The model identifies the required action, i.e.,
accessing the latest stock data from a reliable financial database or API.
2. Step 2 (Acting): The model generates a command to retrieve the data: “Fetch latest
stock data for ‘Company X’ from the Financial Database API”.
3. Step 3 (Interaction): The command is executed, and the model receives the up-to-
date stock information.
4. Step 4 (Reasoning and Acting): With the latest stock data now available, the model
processes this information and generates a detailed response: “As of today, the stock
price of ‘Company X’ is at $Y, which represents a Z% increase from last week.”
In this example, the LLM demonstrates its ability to reason and generate actions (fetching
the data), interact with an external environment (the financial database API), and ultimately
provide a precise and informed response based on the most recent data available.
Multimodal CoT prompting
Multimodal CoT prompting is an extension of the original CoT prompting, involving multiple
modes of data, usually both text and images. By using this technique, a large language
model can leverage visual information in addition to text to generate more accurate and
contextually relevant responses. This allows the system to carry out more complex reasoning
that involves both visual and textual data.
For instance, consider a scenario where a user wants to know the type of bird shown in a
particular image. Using the multimodal CoT prompting technique, the task might unfold as
follows:
13/30
1. Step 1 (Reasoning): The LLM recognizes that it needs to identify the bird in the image.
However, instead of making a direct guess, it decides to carry out a sequence of
reasoning steps, first trying to identify the distinguishing features of the bird.
2. Step 2 (Acting): The model generates a command to analyze the image: “Analyze the
bird’s features in the image, such as color, size, and beak shape.”
3. Step 3 (Interaction): The command is executed, and the model receives the visual
analysis of the bird: “The bird has blue feathers, a small body, and a pointed beak.”
4. Step 4 (Reasoning and Acting): With these distinguishing features now available, the
model cross-references this information with its textual knowledge about bird species. It
concludes that the bird is likely to be a “Blue Tit.”
5. Step 5 (Final Response): The model provides its final answer: “Based on the blue
feathers, small body, and pointed beak, the bird in the image appears to be a Blue Tit.”
In this example, multimodal CoT prompting allows the LLM to generate a chain of reasoning
that involves both image analysis and textual cross-referencing, leading to a more informed
and accurate answer.
Graph prompting
Graph prompting is a method for leveraging the structure and content of a graph for
prompting a large language model. In graph prompting, you use a graph as the primary
source of information and then translate that information into a format that can be understood
and processed by the LLM. The graph could represent many types of relationships, including
social networks, biological pathways, and organizational hierarchies, among others.
For example, let us consider a graph that represents relationships between individuals in a
social network. The nodes of the graph represent people, and the edges represent
relationships between them. Let us say you want to find out who in the network has the most
connections.
You would start by translating the graph into a textual description that an LLM can process.
This could be a list of relationships like “Alice is friends with Bob,” “Bob is friends with
Charlie,” “Alice is friends with Charlie,” and so on.
Next, you would craft a prompt that asks the LLM to analyze these relationships and identify
the person with the most connections. The prompt might look like this: “Given the following
list of friendships, who has the most friends: Alice is friends with Bob, Bob is friends with
Charlie, Alice is friends with Charlie.”
The LLM would then process this prompt and provide an answer based on its analysis of the
information. For instance, in this case, the answer might be “Alice”, given that she has the
most connections according to the provided list of relationships.
14/30
Through graph prompting, you are essentially converting structured graph data into a text-
based format that LLMs can understand and reason about, opening up new possibilities for
question answering and problem solving.
Prompt engineering: The step-by-step process
Prompt engineering is a multi-step process that involves several key tasks. Here they are:
Understanding the problem:
Understanding the problem is a critical first step in prompt engineering. It requires not just
knowing what you want your model to do, but also understanding the underlying structure
and nuances of the task at hand. This is where the art and science of problem analysis in the
context of AI comes into play.
The type of problem you are dealing with greatly influences the approach you will take when
crafting prompts. For instance:
Question-answering tasks: For a question-answering task, you would need to
understand the type of information needed in the answer. Is it factual? Analytical?
Subjective? Also, you would have to consider whether the answer requires reasoning
or context.
Text generation tasks: If it is a text generation task, factors like the desired length of
the output, its format (story, poem, article), and its tone or style come into play.
Sentiment analysis tasks: For sentiment analysis, the prompt should be structured to
guide the model to recognize subjective expressions and discern the sentiment from
the text.
Understanding the problem also involves identifying any potential challenges or limitations
associated with the task. For instance, a task might involve domain-specific language, slang,
or cultural references, which the model may or may not be familiar with.
Moreover, understanding the problem thoroughly helps in anticipating how the model might
react to different prompts. You might need to provide explicit instructions, or use a specific
format for the prompt. Or, you may need to iterate and refine the prompts several times to
get the desired output.
Ultimately, a deep understanding of the problem allows for the creation of more effective and
precise prompts, which in turn leads to better performance from the large language model.
Crafting the initial prompt
15/30
Crafting the initial prompt is an essential task in the process of prompt engineering. This step
involves the careful composition of an initial set of instructions to guide the language model’s
output, based on the understanding gained from the problem analysis.
The main objective of a prompt is to provide clear, concise, and unambiguous directives to
the language model. It acts as a steering wheel, directing the model to the required path and
desired output. A well-structured prompt can effectively utilize the capabilities of the model,
producing high-quality and task-specific responses.
In some scenarios, especially in tasks that require a specific format or context-dependent
results, the initial prompt may also incorporate a few examples of the desired inputs and
outputs, known as few-shot examples. This method is often used to give the model a clearer
understanding of the expected result.
For instance, if you want the model to translate English text into French, your prompt might
include a few examples of English sentences and their corresponding French translations.
This helps the model to grasp the pattern and the context better.
Remember, while crafting the initial prompt, it is also essential to maintain flexibility. The ideal
output is seldom achieved with the first prompt attempt. Often, you would need to iterate and
refine the prompts, based on the model’s responses, to achieve the desired results. This
process of iterative refinement is an integral part of prompt engineering.
Evaluating the model’s response
Evaluating the model’s response is a crucial phase in prompt engineering that follows after
the initial prompt has been utilized to generate a model response. This step is key in
understanding the effectiveness of the crafted prompt and the language model’s interpretive
capacity.
The first thing to assess is whether the model’s output aligns with the task’s intended goal.
For example, if the task is about translating English sentences into Spanish, does the output
correctly and accurately render the meaning in Spanish? Or if the task is to generate a
summary of a lengthy article, does the output present a concise and coherent overview of
the article’s content?
When the model’s response does not meet the desired objective, it’s essential to identify the
areas of discrepancy. This could be in terms of relevance, accuracy, completeness, or
contextual understanding. For instance, the model might produce a grammatically correct
sentence that is contextually incorrect or irrelevant.
Upon identifying the gaps, the aim should be to understand why the model is producing such
output. Is the prompt not explicit enough? Or is the task too complex for the model’s existing
capabilities? Answering these questions can provide insights into the limitations of the model
16/30
as well as the prompt, guiding the next step in the prompt engineering process – Refining the
prompts.
Evaluating the model’s response is a crucial iterative process in prompt engineering, acting
as a feedback loop that consistently informs and improves the process of crafting more
effective prompts.
Iterating and refining the prompt
Iterating and refining the prompt is an essential step in prompt engineering that arises from
the evaluations of the model’s response. This stage centers on improving the effectiveness
of the prompt based on the identified shortcomings or flaws in the model’s output.
When refining a prompt, several strategies can be employed. These strategies are
predominantly influenced by the nature of the misalignment between the model’s output and
the desired objective.
For instance, if the model’s response deviates from the task’s goal due to a lack of explicit
instructions in the prompt, the refinement process may involve making the instructions
clearer and more specific. Explicit instructions help ensure that the model comprehends the
intended objective and doesn’t deviate into unrelated content or produce irrelevant
responses.
On the other hand, if the model is struggling to understand the structure of the task or the
required output, it may be beneficial to provide more examples within the prompt. These
examples can act as guidelines, demonstrating the correct form and substance of the
desired output.
Similarly, the format or structure of the prompt itself can be altered in the refinement process.
The alterations could range from changing the order of sentences or the phrasing of
questions to the inclusion of specific keywords or format cues.
The iteration and refinement process in prompt engineering is cyclic, with multiple rounds of
refinements often necessary to arrive at a prompt that most effectively elicits the desired
output from the model. It is a process that underlines the essence of prompt engineering –
the fine-tuning of language to communicate effectively with large language models.
Testing the prompt on different models
Testing the prompt on different models is a significant step in prompt engineering that can
provide in-depth insights into the robustness and generalizability of the refined prompt. This
step entails applying your prompt to a variety of large language models and observing their
responses. It is essential to understand that while a prompt may work effectively with one
17/30
model, it may not yield the desired result when applied to another. This is because different
models may have different architectures, training methodologies, or datasets that influence
their understanding and response to a particular prompt.
The size of the model plays a significant role in its ability to understand and respond
accurately to a prompt. For instance, larger models often have a broader context window and
can generate more nuanced responses. On the other hand, smaller models may require
more explicit prompting due to their reduced contextual understanding.
The model’s architecture, such as transformer-based models like GPT-3 or LSTM-based
models, can also influence how it processes and responds to prompts. Some architectures
may excel at certain tasks, while others may struggle, and this can be unveiled during this
testing phase.
Lastly, the training data of the models plays a crucial role in their performance. A model
trained on a wide range of topics and genres may provide a more versatile response than a
model trained on a narrow, specialized dataset.
By testing your prompt across various models, you can gain insights into the robustness of
your prompt, understand how different model characteristics influence the response, and
further refine your prompt if necessary. This process ultimately ensures that your prompt is
as effective and versatile as possible, reinforcing the applicability of prompt engineering
across different large language models.
Scaling the prompt
After refining and testing your prompt to a point where it consistently produces desirable
results, it’s time to scale it. Scaling, in the context of prompt engineering, involves extending
the utility of a successfully implemented prompt across broader contexts, tasks, or
automation levels.
1. Automating prompt generation: Depending on the nature of the task and the model’s
requirements, it may be possible to automate the process of generating prompts. This
could involve creating a script or a tool that generates prompts based on certain
parameters or rules. Automating prompt generation can save a significant amount of
time, especially when dealing with a high volume of tasks or data. It can also reduce
the chance of human error and ensure consistency in the prompt generation process.
2. Creating variations of the prompt: Another way to scale a prompt is to create variations
that can be used for related tasks. For example, if you have a prompt that successfully
guides a model in performing sentiment analysis on product reviews, you might create
variations of this prompt to apply it to movie reviews, book reviews, or restaurant
reviews. This approach leverages the foundational work that went into creating the
original prompt and allows you to address a wider range of tasks more quickly and
efficiently.
18/30
Scaling the prompt is the final step in the prompt engineering process, reflecting the
successful development of an effective prompt. It represents a transition from development
to deployment, as the prompt begins to be used in real-world applications on a broader
scale.
It’s worth noting that prompt engineering is an iterative process. It requires ongoing testing
and refinement to optimize the model’s performance for the given task.
Key elements of a prompt
Delving into the world of prompt engineering, we encounter four pivotal components that
together form the cornerstone of this discipline. These are instructions, context, input data,
and output indicators. Together, they provide a framework for effective communication with
large language models, shaping their responses and guiding their operations. Here, we
explore each of these elements in depth, helping you comprehend and apply them efficiently
in your AI development journey.
Instruction: This is the directive given to the model that details what is expected in
terms of the task to be performed. This could range from “translate the following text
into French” to “generate a list of ideas for a science fiction story”. The instruction is
usually the first part of the prompt and sets the overall task for the model.
Context: This element provides additional information that can guide the model’s
response. For instance, in a translation task, you might provide some background on
the text to be translated (like it’s a dialogue from a film or a passage from a scientific
paper). The context can help the model understand the style, tone, and specifics of the
information needed.
Input data: This refers to the actual data that the model will be working with. In a
translation task, this would be the text to be translated. In a question-answering task,
this would be the question being asked.
Output indicator: This part of the prompt signals to the model the format in which the
output should be generated. For instance, you might specify that you want the model’s
response in the form of a list, a paragraph, a single sentence, or any other specific
structure. This can help narrow down the model’s output and guide it towards more
useful responses.
While these elements are not always required in every prompt, a well-crafted prompt often
includes a blend of these components, tailored to the specific task at hand. Each element
contributes to shaping the model’s output, guiding it towards generating responses that align
with the desired goal.
How to design prompts?
Importance of LLM settings
19/30
Designing prompts for a large language model involves understanding and manipulating
specific settings that can steer the model’s output. These settings can be modified either
directly or via an API.
Key settings include the ‘Temperature’ and ‘Top_p’ parameters. The ‘Temperature’ parameter
controls the randomness of the model’s output. Lower values make the model’s output more
deterministic, favoring the most probable next token. This is useful for tasks requiring precise
and factual answers, like a fact-based question-answer system. On the other hand,
increasing the ‘Temperature’ value induces more randomness in the model’s responses,
allowing for more creative and diverse results. This is beneficial for creative tasks like poem
generation.
The ‘Top_p’ parameter, used in a sampling technique known as nucleus sampling, also
influences the determinism of the model’s response. A lower ‘Top_p’ value results in more
exact and factual answers, while a higher value increases the diversity of the responses.
One key recommendation is to adjust either ‘Temperature’ or ‘Top_p,’ but not both
simultaneously, to prevent overcomplicating the system and to better control the effect of
these settings.
Remember that the performance of your prompt may vary depending on the version of LLM
you are using, and it’s always beneficial to iterate and experiment with your settings and
prompt design.
Key strategies for successful prompt design
Here are some tips to keep in mind while you are designing your prompts
Begin with the basics
While embarking on the journey of designing prompts you need to remember that it’s a step-
by-step process that demands persistent tweaking and testing to achieve excellence.
Platforms like OpenAI or Cohere provide a user-friendly environment for this venture. Kick off
with basic prompts, gradually enriching them with more components and context as you
strive for enhanced outcomes. Maintaining different versions of your prompts is crucial in this
progression. Through this guide, you will discover that clarity, simplicity, and precision often
lead to superior results.
For complex tasks involving numerous subtasks, consider deconstructing them into simpler
components, progressively developing as you achieve promising results. This approach
prevents an overwhelming start to the prompt design process.
Crafting effective prompts: The power of instructions
20/30
As a prompt designer, one of your most potent tools is the instruction you give to the
language model. Instructions such as “Write,” “Classify,” “Summarize,” “Translate,” “Order,”
etc., guide the model to execute a variety of tasks.
Remember, crafting an effective instruction often involves a considerable amount of
experimentation. To optimize the instruction for your specific use case, test different
instruction patterns with varying keywords, contexts, and data types. The rule of thumb here
is to ensure the context is as specific and relevant to your task as possible.
Here is a practical tip: most prompt designers suggest placing the instruction at the start of
the prompt. A clear separator, like “###”, could be used to distinguish the instruction from the
context. For example:
“### Instruction ### Translate the following text to French:
Text: “Good morning!” By following these guidelines, you will be well on your way to creating
effective and precise prompts.
The essence of specificity in prompt design
In the realm of prompt design, specificity is vital. The more accurately you define the task
and instruction, the more aligned the outcomes will be with your expectations. It’s not so
much about using certain tokens or keywords, but rather about formulating a well-structured
and descriptive prompt.
A useful technique is to include examples within your prompts; they can guide the model to
produce the output in the desired format. For instance, if you are seeking a summarization of
a text in three sentences, your instruction could be:
“Summarize the following text into 3 sentences: …”
Keep in mind that while specificity is important, there is a balance to be found. You should be
conscious of the prompt’s length, as there are limitations to consider. Additionally,
overloading the prompt with irrelevant details may confuse the model rather than guiding it.
The goal is to include details that meaningfully contribute to the task at hand.
Prompt design is a process of constant experimentation and iteration. Always seek to refine
and enhance your prompts for optimal outcomes. Experiment with different levels of
specificity and detail to find what works best for your unique applications.
Sidestepping ambiguity in prompt design
While prompt design requires a balance of detail and creativity, it is crucial to avoid ambiguity
or impreciseness. Much like clear communication, precise instructions yield better results. An
overly clever or convoluted prompt can lead to less desirable outcomes. Instead, focus on
21/30
clarity and specificity.
For instance, let’s say you want your model to generate a brief definition of the term ‘Artificial
Intelligence’. An imprecise prompt might be:
“Talk about this thing that’s being used a lot these days, Artificial Intelligence.”
While the model may understand this prompt, it’s indirect and lacks clarity. You may receive a
lengthy discourse rather than the succinct definition you desire. A clearer, more direct prompt
could be:
“Define the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ in one sentence.”
This prompt is precise and directs the model to generate a specific output. The output, in this
case, could be:
“Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science focused on creating machines capable
of mimicking human intelligence.”
Through avoiding ambiguity in your prompts, you can effectively guide the model to produce
the desired output.
Choosing clarity over restrictions
In prompt designing, it’s often more beneficial to instruct the model on what to do, rather than
dictating what not to do. This approach promotes precision and directs the model towards
generating useful responses.
Consider, for instance, you are trying to get a language model to recommend a book. An
ineffective instruction might be:
“Do not recommend any books that are not in the top 10 best sellers list.”
This statement might confuse the model as it’s primarily focusing on what not to do. A more
productive instruction would be:
“Recommend a book from the top 10 best sellers list.”
This is direct, clear, and focuses the model on the task you desire. The output could be:
“One of the top 10 best sellers right now is ‘The Code Breaker’ by Walter Isaacson. It’s a
fascinating look into the world of genetics and biochemistry.”
Emphasizing the desired action in your prompt, rather than the prohibited ones, ensures the
model clearly understands your expectations and is more likely to deliver an appropriate
response.
22/30
Prompt engineering best practices
Craft detailed and direct instructions
Strategy 1: Use delimiters such as , “““, < >, <tag> </tag> to distinguish
different sections of the input. This helps in structuring your input
effectively and preventing prompt errors. For instance, using
the delimiters to specify the text to be summarized.
Strategy 2: Request for a structured output. This could be in a JSON format, which can
easily be converted into a list or dictionary in Python later on.
Strategy 3: Confirm whether conditions are met. The prompt can be designed to verify
assumptions first. This is particularly helpful when dealing with edge cases. For
example, if the input text doesn’t contain any instructions, you can instruct the model to
write “No steps provided”.
Strategy 4: Leverage few-shot prompting. Provide the model with successful examples
of completed tasks, then ask the model to carry out a similar task.
Allow the model time to ‘Think’
Strategy 1: Detail the steps needed to complete a task and demand output in a
specified format. For complex tasks, breaking them down into smaller steps can be
beneficial, just as humans often find step-by-step instructions helpful. You can ask the
model to follow a logical sequence or chain of reasoning before arriving at the final
answer.
Strategy 2: Instruct the model to work out its solution before jumping to a conclusion.
This helps the model in thoroughly processing the task at hand before delivering the
output.
Opt for the latest model
To attain optimal results, it is advisable to use the most advanced models.
Provide detailed descriptions
Clarity is crucial. Be specific and descriptive about the required context, outcome, length,
format, style, etc. For instance, instead of simply requesting a poem about OpenAI, specify
details like poem length, style, and a particular theme, such as a recent product launch.
Use examples to illustrate desired output format
The model responds better to specific format requirements shown through examples. This
approach also simplifies the process of parsing multiple outputs programmatically.
Start with zero-shot, then few-shot, and finally fine-tune
23/30
For complex tasks, start with zero-shot, then proceed with few-shot techniques. If these
methods don’t yield satisfactory results, consider fine-tuning the model.
Eliminate vague and unnecessary descriptions
Precision is essential. Avoid vague and “fluffy” descriptions. For instance, instead of saying,
“The description should be fairly short,” provide a clear guideline such as, “Use a 3 to 5
sentence paragraph to describe this product.”
Give direct instructions over prohibitions
Instead of telling the model what not to do, instruct it on what to do. For instance, in a
customer service conversation scenario, instruct the model to diagnose the problem and
suggest a solution, avoiding any questions related to personally identifiable information (PII).
Use leading words for code generation
For code generation tasks, nudge the model towards a particular pattern using leading
words. This might include using words like ‘import’ to hint the model that it should start
writing in Python, or ‘SELECT’ for initiating a SQL statement.
Applications of prompt engineering
Program-aided Language Model (PAL)
Program-aided language models in prompt engineering involve integrating programmatic
instructions and structures to enhance the capabilities of language models. By incorporating
additional programming logic and constraints, PAL enables more precise and context-aware
responses. This approach allows developers to guide the model’s behavior, specify the
desired output format, provide relevant examples, and refine prompts based on intermediate
results. By leveraging programmatic guidance, PAL techniques empower language models
to generate more accurate and tailored responses, making them valuable tools for a wide
range of applications in natural language processing.
Here is an example of how PAL can be applied in prompt engineering:
Prompt:
Given a list of numbers, compute the sum of all even numbers.
Input: [2, 5, 8, 10, 3, 6]
Output: The sum of all even numbers is 26.
24/30
In this example, the prompt includes a programmatic instruction to compute the sum of even
numbers in a given list. By providing this specific task and format, the language model
guided by PAL techniques can generate a response that precisely fulfills the desired
computation. The integration of programmatic logic and instructions in the prompt ensures
accurate and contextually appropriate results.
Generating data
Generating data is an important application of prompt engineering with large language
models (LLMs). LLMs have the ability to generate coherent and contextually relevant text,
which can be leveraged to create synthetic data for various purposes.
For example, in natural language processing tasks, generating data using LLMs can be
valuable for training and evaluating models. By designing prompts that instruct the LLM to
generate specific types of data, such as question-answer pairs, text summaries, or dialogue
interactions, researchers and practitioners can create large volumes of labeled training data.
This synthetic data can then be used to train and improve NLP models, as well as to
evaluate their performance.
Here is an example:
Prompt:
Generate 100 question-answer pairs about famous landmarks.
Using this prompt, the LLM can generate a diverse set of question-answer pairs related to
famous landmarks around the world. The generated data can be used to enhance question-
answering models or to augment existing datasets for training and evaluation.
By employing prompt engineering techniques, researchers and developers can effectively
utilize LLMs to generate data that aligns with their specific needs, enabling them to conduct
experiments, evaluate models, and advance various domains of research.
Generating code
Generating code is another application of prompt engineering with large language models.
LLMs can be prompted to generate code snippets, functions, or even entire programs, which
can be valuable in software development, automation, and programming education.
For example, let’s consider a scenario where a developer wants to generate a Python
function that calculates the factorial of a number:
Prompt:
25/30
Write a Python function named "factorial" that takes an integer as input and returns its
factorial.
By providing this specific prompt to the LLM, it can generate code that implements the
factorial function in Python:
Generated Code:
def factorial(n):
if n == 0 or n == 1:
return 1
else:
return n * factorial(n - 1)
The generated code demonstrates the recursive implementation of the factorial function in
Python.
Prompt engineering allows developers to design prompts with clear instructions and
specifications, such as function names, input requirements, and desired output formats. By
carefully crafting prompts, LLMs can be guided to generate code snippets tailored to specific
programming tasks or requirements.
This application of prompt engineering can be highly beneficial for developers seeking
assistance in code generation, automating repetitive tasks, or even for educational purposes
where learners can explore different code patterns and learn from the generated examples.
Risks associated with prompting and solutions
As we harness the power of large language models and explore their capabilities, it is
important to acknowledge the risks and potential misuses associated with prompting. While
well-crafted prompts can yield impressive results, it is crucial to understand the potential
pitfalls and safety considerations when using LLMs for real-world applications.
This section sheds light on the risks and misuses of LLMs, particularly through techniques
like prompt injections. It also addresses harmful behaviors that may arise and provides
insights into mitigating these risks through effective prompting techniques. Additionally, topics
such as generalizability, calibration, biases, social biases, and factuality are explored to
foster a comprehensive understanding of the challenges involved in working with LLMs.
26/30
By recognizing these risks and adopting responsible practices, we can navigate the evolving
landscape of LLM applications while promoting ethical and safe use of these powerful
language models.
Adversarial prompting
Adversarial prompting refers to the intentional manipulation of prompts to exploit
vulnerabilities or biases in language models, resulting in unintended or harmful outputs.
Adversarial prompts aim to trick or deceive the model into generating misleading, biased, or
inappropriate responses.
Prompt injection: Prompt injection is a technique used in adversarial prompting where
additional instructions or content is inserted into the prompt to influence the model’s
behavior. By injecting specific keywords, phrases, or instructions, the model’s output
can be manipulated to produce desired or undesired outcomes. Prompt injection can
be used to introduce biases, generate offensive or harmful content, or manipulate the
model’s understanding of the task.
Prompt leaking: Prompt leaking occurs when sensitive or confidential information
unintentionally gets exposed in the model’s response. This can happen when the
model incorporates parts of the prompt, including personally identifiable information,
into its generated output. Prompt leaking poses privacy and security risks, as it may
disclose sensitive data to unintended recipients or expose vulnerabilities in the model’s
handling of input prompts.
Jailbreaking: In the context of prompt engineering, jailbreaking refers to bypassing or
overriding safety mechanisms put in place to restrict or regulate the behavior of
language models. It involves manipulating the prompt in a way that allows the model to
generate outputs that may be inappropriate, unethical, or against the intended
guidelines. Jailbreaking can lead to the generation of offensive content, misinformation,
or other undesirable outcomes.
Overall, adversarial prompting techniques like prompt injection, prompt leaking, and
jailbreaking highlight the importance of responsible and ethical prompt engineering practices.
It is essential to be aware of the potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with language
models and to take precautions to mitigate these risks while ensuring the safe and
responsible use of these powerful AI systems.
Defense tactics for adversarial prompting
Add defense in the instruction: One defense tactic is to explicitly enforce the desired
behavior through the instruction given to the model. While this approach is not
foolproof, it emphasizes the power of well-crafted prompts in guiding the model towards
the intended output.
27/30
Parameterize prompt components: Inspired by techniques used in SQL injection,
one potential solution is to parameterize different components of the prompt,
separating instructions from inputs and handling them differently. This approach can
lead to cleaner and safer solutions, although it may come with some trade-offs in terms
of flexibility.
Quotes and additional formatting: Escaping or quoting input strings can provide a
workaround to prevent certain prompt injections. This tactic, suggested by Riley, helps
maintain robustness across phrasing variations and highlights the importance of proper
formatting and careful consideration of prompt structure.
Adversarial prompt detector: Language models themselves can be leveraged to
detect and filter out adversarial prompts. By fine-tuning or training an LLM specifically
for detecting such prompts, it is possible to incorporate an additional layer of defense to
mitigate the impact of adversarial inputs.
Selecting model types: Choosing the appropriate model type can also contribute to
defense against prompt injections. For certain tasks, using fine-tuned models or
creating k-shot prompts for non-instruct models can be effective. Fine-tuning a model
on a large number of examples can help improve robustness and accuracy, reducing
reliance on instruction-based models.
Guardrails and safety measures: Some language models, like ChatGPT, incorporate
guardrails and safety measures to prevent malicious or dangerous prompts. While
these measures provide a level of protection, they are not perfect and can still be
susceptible to novel adversarial prompts. It is important to recognize the trade-off
between safety constraints and desired behaviors.
Factuality
It is worth noting that the field of prompt engineering and defense against adversarial
prompting is an evolving area, and more research and development are needed to establish
robust and comprehensive defense tactics against text-based attacks. Factuality is a
significant risk in prompting as LLMs can generate responses that appear coherent and
convincing but may lack accuracy. To address this, there are several solutions that can be
employed:
Provide ground truth: Including reliable and factual information as part of the context
can help guide the model to generate more accurate responses. This can involve
referencing related articles, excerpts from reliable sources, or specific sections from
Wikipedia entries. By incorporating verified information, the model is less likely to
produce fabricated or inconsistent responses.
28/30
Control response diversity: Modifying the probability parameters of the model can
influence the diversity of its responses. By decreasing the probability values, the model
can be guided towards generating more focused and factually accurate answers.
Additionally, explicitly instructing the model to acknowledge uncertainty by admitting
when it doesn’t possess the required knowledge can also mitigate the risk of
generating false information.
Provide examples in the prompt: Including a combination of questions and
responses in the prompt can guide the model to differentiate between topics it is
familiar with and those it is not. By explicitly demonstrating examples of both known
and unknown information, the model can better understand the boundaries of its
knowledge and avoid generating false or speculative responses.
These solutions help address the risk of factuality in prompting by promoting more accurate
and reliable output from LLMs. However, it is important to continuously evaluate and refine
the prompt engineering strategies to ensure the best possible balance between generating
coherent responses and maintaining factual accuracy.
Biases
Biases in LLMs pose a significant risk as they can lead to the generation of problematic and
biased content. These biases can adversely impact the performance of the model in
downstream tasks and perpetuate harmful stereotypes or discriminatory behavior. To
address this, it is essential to implement appropriate solutions:
Effective prompting strategies: Crafting well-designed prompts can help mitigate
biases to some extent. By providing specific instructions and context that encourage
fairness and inclusivity, the model can be guided to generate more unbiased
responses. Additionally, incorporating diverse and representative examples in the
prompt can help the model learn from a broader range of perspectives, reducing the
likelihood of biased output.
Moderation and filtering: Implementing robust moderation and filtering mechanisms
can help identify and mitigate biased content generated by LLMs. This involves
developing systems that can detect and flag potentially biased or harmful outputs in
real-time. Human reviewers or content moderation teams can then review and address
any problematic content, ensuring that biased or discriminatory responses are not
propagated.
Diverse training data: Training LLMs on diverse datasets that encompass a wide
range of perspectives and experiences can help reduce biases. By exposing the model
to a more comprehensive set of examples, it learns to generate responses that are
more balanced and representative. Regularly updating and expanding the training data
with diverse sources can further enhance the model’s ability to generate unbiased
content.
29/30
Post-processing and debiasing techniques: Applying post-processing techniques to
the generated output can help identify and mitigate biases. These techniques involve
analyzing the model’s responses for potential biases and adjusting them to ensure
fairness and inclusivity. Debiasing methods can be employed to retrain the model,
explicitly addressing and reducing biases in its output.
It is important to note that addressing biases in LLMs is an ongoing challenge, and no single
solution can completely eliminate biases. It requires a combination of thoughtful prompt
engineering, robust moderation practices, diverse training data, and continuous improvement
of the underlying models. Close collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and
communities is crucial to develop effective strategies and ensure responsible and unbiased
use of LLMs.
Endnote
The future of language model learning is deeply intertwined with the ongoing evolution of
prompt engineering. As we stand on the threshold of this technological transformation, the
vast and untapped potential of prompt engineering is coming into focus. It serves as a bridge
between the complex world of AI and the intricacy of human language, facilitating
communication that is not just effective, but also intuitive and humanlike.
In the realm of LLM, well-engineered prompts play a pivotal role. They are the steering wheel
guiding the direction of machine learning models, helping them navigate through the maze of
human languages with precision and understanding. As AI technologies become more
sophisticated and integrated into our daily lives – from voice assistants on our phones to AI
chatbots in customer service – the role of prompt engineering in crafting nuanced, context-
aware prompts have become more important than ever.
Moreover, as the field of LLM expands into newer territories like automated content creation,
data analysis, and even healthcare diagnostics, prompt engineering will be at the helm,
guiding the course. It’s not just about crafting questions for AI to answer; it’s about
understanding the context, the intent, and the desired outcome, and encoding all of that into
a concise, effective prompt.
Investing time, research, and resources into prompt engineering today will have a ripple
effect on our AI-enabled future. It will fuel advancements in LLM and lay the groundwork for
AI technologies we can’t even envision yet. The future of LLM, and indeed, the future of our
increasingly AI-integrated world, rests in the hands of skilled prompt engineers.
Enhance your LLM’s power and performance with prompt engineering. To harness the power
of prompt engineering, hire LeewayHertz’s LLM development services today and ensure
business success in today’s AI-centric world!
30/30

More Related Content

What's hot

Learn Prompting with ChatGPT
Learn Prompting with ChatGPTLearn Prompting with ChatGPT
Learn Prompting with ChatGPTNikhil Gadkar
 
Cloud AI GenAI Overview.pptx
Cloud AI GenAI Overview.pptxCloud AI GenAI Overview.pptx
Cloud AI GenAI Overview.pptxSahithiGurlinka
 
Generative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second Session
Generative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second SessionGenerative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second Session
Generative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second SessionGene Leybzon
 
Cavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AI
Cavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AICavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AI
Cavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AICavalry Ventures
 
Generative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's Perspective
Generative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's PerspectiveGenerative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's Perspective
Generative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's PerspectiveHuahai Yang
 
Large Language Models - Chat AI.pdf
Large Language Models - Chat AI.pdfLarge Language Models - Chat AI.pdf
Large Language Models - Chat AI.pdfDavid Rostcheck
 
Exploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdf
Exploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdfExploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdf
Exploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdfDung Hoang
 
What is chat gpt advance guide.docx
What is chat gpt advance guide.docxWhat is chat gpt advance guide.docx
What is chat gpt advance guide.docxVersionsol
 
Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...
Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...
Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...Mihai Criveti
 
Large Language Models Bootcamp
Large Language Models BootcampLarge Language Models Bootcamp
Large Language Models BootcampData Science Dojo
 
Prompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdf
Prompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdfPrompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdf
Prompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdfNaveed Ahmed Siddiqui
 
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬VINCI Digital - Industrial IoT (IIoT) Strategic Advisory
 
ChatGpt.pptx
ChatGpt.pptxChatGpt.pptx
ChatGpt.pptxJahanvi B
 
The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!
The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!
The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!taozen
 
Leveraging Generative AI & Best practices
Leveraging Generative AI & Best practicesLeveraging Generative AI & Best practices
Leveraging Generative AI & Best practicesDianaGray10
 
ChatGPT For Business Use
ChatGPT For Business UseChatGPT For Business Use
ChatGPT For Business UseSanjay Willie
 
Generative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AI
Generative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AIGenerative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AI
Generative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AIKumaresan K
 
And then there were ... Large Language Models
And then there were ... Large Language ModelsAnd then there were ... Large Language Models
And then there were ... Large Language ModelsLeon Dohmen
 

What's hot (20)

Learn Prompting with ChatGPT
Learn Prompting with ChatGPTLearn Prompting with ChatGPT
Learn Prompting with ChatGPT
 
Cloud AI GenAI Overview.pptx
Cloud AI GenAI Overview.pptxCloud AI GenAI Overview.pptx
Cloud AI GenAI Overview.pptx
 
Generative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second Session
Generative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second SessionGenerative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second Session
Generative AI Use cases for Enterprise - Second Session
 
Cavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AI
Cavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AICavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AI
Cavalry Ventures | Deep Dive: Generative AI
 
Generative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's Perspective
Generative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's PerspectiveGenerative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's Perspective
Generative AI: Past, Present, and Future – A Practitioner's Perspective
 
Large Language Models - Chat AI.pdf
Large Language Models - Chat AI.pdfLarge Language Models - Chat AI.pdf
Large Language Models - Chat AI.pdf
 
Exploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdf
Exploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdfExploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdf
Exploring Opportunities in the Generative AI Value Chain.pdf
 
OpenAI Chatgpt.pptx
OpenAI Chatgpt.pptxOpenAI Chatgpt.pptx
OpenAI Chatgpt.pptx
 
What is chat gpt advance guide.docx
What is chat gpt advance guide.docxWhat is chat gpt advance guide.docx
What is chat gpt advance guide.docx
 
Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...
Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...
Retrieval Augmented Generation in Practice: Scalable GenAI platforms with k8s...
 
Large Language Models Bootcamp
Large Language Models BootcampLarge Language Models Bootcamp
Large Language Models Bootcamp
 
Prompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdf
Prompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdfPrompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdf
Prompt Engineering by Dr. Naveed.pdf
 
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐈: 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬
 
ChatGpt.pptx
ChatGpt.pptxChatGpt.pptx
ChatGpt.pptx
 
The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!
The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!
The Rise of the LLMs - How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the GPT!
 
Leveraging Generative AI & Best practices
Leveraging Generative AI & Best practicesLeveraging Generative AI & Best practices
Leveraging Generative AI & Best practices
 
Intro to LLMs
Intro to LLMsIntro to LLMs
Intro to LLMs
 
ChatGPT For Business Use
ChatGPT For Business UseChatGPT For Business Use
ChatGPT For Business Use
 
Generative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AI
Generative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AIGenerative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AI
Generative AI and ChatGPT - Scope of AI and advance Generative AI
 
And then there were ... Large Language Models
And then there were ... Large Language ModelsAnd then there were ... Large Language Models
And then there were ... Large Language Models
 

Similar to A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf

A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdfA comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdfStephenAmell4
 
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdfA comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdfJamieDornan2
 
Crafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLM
Crafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLMCrafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLM
Crafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLMChristopherTHyatt
 
Large Language Models.pdf
Large Language Models.pdfLarge Language Models.pdf
Large Language Models.pdfBLINXAI
 
Train foundation model for domain-specific language model
Train foundation model for domain-specific language modelTrain foundation model for domain-specific language model
Train foundation model for domain-specific language modelBenjaminlapid1
 
Chasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering Jobs
Chasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering JobsChasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering Jobs
Chasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering JobsFredReynolds2
 
Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...
Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...
Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...IAESIJAI
 
Northbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdf
Northbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdfNorthbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdf
Northbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdfssusera5352a2
 
Vectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptx
Vectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptxVectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptx
Vectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptxSachinAngre3
 
Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...
Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...
Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...PhD Assistance
 
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...Nexgits Private Limited
 
Speech To Speech Translation
Speech To Speech TranslationSpeech To Speech Translation
Speech To Speech TranslationIRJET Journal
 
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...Nexgits Private Limited
 
Pair Programming with a Large Language Model
Pair Programming with a Large Language ModelPair Programming with a Large Language Model
Pair Programming with a Large Language ModelKnoldus Inc.
 
leewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdf
leewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdfleewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdf
leewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdfKristiLBurns
 
An Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting Algorithm
An Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting AlgorithmAn Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting Algorithm
An Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting AlgorithmIRJET Journal
 
Survey of reasoning techniques with Language Model prompting
Survey of reasoning techniques with Language Model promptingSurvey of reasoning techniques with Language Model prompting
Survey of reasoning techniques with Language Model promptingSanjana Kothari
 

Similar to A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf (20)

A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdfA comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
 
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdfA comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf
 
Untitled document.pdf
Untitled document.pdfUntitled document.pdf
Untitled document.pdf
 
Crafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLM
Crafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLMCrafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLM
Crafting Your Customized Legal Mastery: A Guide to Building Your Private LLM
 
Large Language Models.pdf
Large Language Models.pdfLarge Language Models.pdf
Large Language Models.pdf
 
Train foundation model for domain-specific language model
Train foundation model for domain-specific language modelTrain foundation model for domain-specific language model
Train foundation model for domain-specific language model
 
Chasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering Jobs
Chasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering JobsChasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering Jobs
Chasing Innovation: Exploring the Thrilling World of Prompt Engineering Jobs
 
Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...
Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...
Analysis of the evolution of advanced transformer-based language models: Expe...
 
Northbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdf
Northbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdfNorthbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdf
Northbay_December_2023_LLM_Reporting.pdf
 
Vectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptx
Vectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptxVectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptx
Vectorized Intent of Multilingual Large Language Models.pptx
 
Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...
Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...
Conversational AI:An Overview of Techniques, Applications & Future Scope - Ph...
 
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models_ A Comprehensive Gui...
 
Speech To Speech Translation
Speech To Speech TranslationSpeech To Speech Translation
Speech To Speech Translation
 
LLM.pdf
LLM.pdfLLM.pdf
LLM.pdf
 
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...
How to Enhance NLP’s Accuracy with Large Language Models - A Comprehensive Gu...
 
Technovision
TechnovisionTechnovision
Technovision
 
Pair Programming with a Large Language Model
Pair Programming with a Large Language ModelPair Programming with a Large Language Model
Pair Programming with a Large Language Model
 
leewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdf
leewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdfleewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdf
leewayhertz.com-How AI-driven development is reshaping the tech landscape.pdf
 
An Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting Algorithm
An Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting AlgorithmAn Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting Algorithm
An Efficient Approach to Produce Source Code by Interpreting Algorithm
 
Survey of reasoning techniques with Language Model prompting
Survey of reasoning techniques with Language Model promptingSurvey of reasoning techniques with Language Model prompting
Survey of reasoning techniques with Language Model prompting
 

More from AnastasiaSteele10

Model validation techniques in machine learning.pdf
Model validation techniques in machine learning.pdfModel validation techniques in machine learning.pdf
Model validation techniques in machine learning.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
How to test LLMs in production.pdf
How to test LLMs in production.pdfHow to test LLMs in production.pdf
How to test LLMs in production.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
Unlock the power of MLOps.pdf
Unlock the power of MLOps.pdfUnlock the power of MLOps.pdf
Unlock the power of MLOps.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
How to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdfHow to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
How to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdf
How to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdfHow to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdf
How to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
What are neural networks.pdf
What are neural networks.pdfWhat are neural networks.pdf
What are neural networks.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
Build an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdf
Build an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdfBuild an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdf
Build an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
How to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdfHow to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 
Action Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdf
Action Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdfAction Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdf
Action Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdfAnastasiaSteele10
 

More from AnastasiaSteele10 (11)

Model validation techniques in machine learning.pdf
Model validation techniques in machine learning.pdfModel validation techniques in machine learning.pdf
Model validation techniques in machine learning.pdf
 
How to test LLMs in production.pdf
How to test LLMs in production.pdfHow to test LLMs in production.pdf
How to test LLMs in production.pdf
 
Unlock the power of MLOps.pdf
Unlock the power of MLOps.pdfUnlock the power of MLOps.pdf
Unlock the power of MLOps.pdf
 
How to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdfHow to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdf
 
Action Transformer.pdf
Action Transformer.pdfAction Transformer.pdf
Action Transformer.pdf
 
How to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdf
How to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdfHow to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdf
How to build an AI-powered chatbot.pdf
 
What are neural networks.pdf
What are neural networks.pdfWhat are neural networks.pdf
What are neural networks.pdf
 
Build an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdf
Build an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdfBuild an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdf
Build an LLM-powered application using LangChain.pdf
 
How to build an AI app.pdf
How to build an AI app.pdfHow to build an AI app.pdf
How to build an AI app.pdf
 
How to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdfHow to build machine learning apps.pdf
How to build machine learning apps.pdf
 
Action Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdf
Action Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdfAction Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdf
Action Transformer - The next frontier in AI development.pdf
 

Recently uploaded

Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL Certs
Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL CertsScanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL Certs
Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL CertsRizwan Syed
 
"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko
"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko
"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii SoldatenkoFwdays
 
Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!
Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!
Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!Commit University
 
Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptx
Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptxArtificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptx
Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptxhariprasad279825
 
Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024
Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024
Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024BookNet Canada
 
Take control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test Suite
Take control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test SuiteTake control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test Suite
Take control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test SuiteDianaGray10
 
Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdf
Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdfSearch Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdf
Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdfRankYa
 
How to write a Business Continuity Plan
How to write a Business Continuity PlanHow to write a Business Continuity Plan
How to write a Business Continuity PlanDatabarracks
 
Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024
Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024
Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024Enterprise Knowledge
 
Human Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR Systems
Human Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR SystemsHuman Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR Systems
Human Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR SystemsMark Billinghurst
 
What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024
What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024
What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024Stephanie Beckett
 
"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...
"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks..."LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...
"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...Fwdays
 
Merck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptx
Merck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptxMerck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptx
Merck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptxLoriGlavin3
 
Advanced Computer Architecture – An Introduction
Advanced Computer Architecture – An IntroductionAdvanced Computer Architecture – An Introduction
Advanced Computer Architecture – An IntroductionDilum Bandara
 
H2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo Day
H2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo DayH2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo Day
H2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo DaySri Ambati
 
"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack
"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack
"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek SchlawackFwdays
 
Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)
Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)
Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)Mark Simos
 
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.Curtis Poe
 
Gen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdf
Gen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdfGen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdf
Gen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdfAddepto
 

Recently uploaded (20)

Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL Certs
Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL CertsScanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL Certs
Scanning the Internet for External Cloud Exposures via SSL Certs
 
"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko
"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko
"Debugging python applications inside k8s environment", Andrii Soldatenko
 
Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!
Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!
Nell’iperspazio con Rocket: il Framework Web di Rust!
 
Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptx
Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptxArtificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptx
Artificial intelligence in cctv survelliance.pptx
 
Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024
Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024
Transcript: New from BookNet Canada for 2024: BNC CataList - Tech Forum 2024
 
Take control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test Suite
Take control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test SuiteTake control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test Suite
Take control of your SAP testing with UiPath Test Suite
 
E-Vehicle_Hacking_by_Parul Sharma_null_owasp.pptx
E-Vehicle_Hacking_by_Parul Sharma_null_owasp.pptxE-Vehicle_Hacking_by_Parul Sharma_null_owasp.pptx
E-Vehicle_Hacking_by_Parul Sharma_null_owasp.pptx
 
Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdf
Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdfSearch Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdf
Search Engine Optimization SEO PDF for 2024.pdf
 
How to write a Business Continuity Plan
How to write a Business Continuity PlanHow to write a Business Continuity Plan
How to write a Business Continuity Plan
 
Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024
Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024
Designing IA for AI - Information Architecture Conference 2024
 
Human Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR Systems
Human Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR SystemsHuman Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR Systems
Human Factors of XR: Using Human Factors to Design XR Systems
 
What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024
What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024
What's New in Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices March 2024
 
"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...
"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks..."LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...
"LLMs for Python Engineers: Advanced Data Analysis and Semantic Kernel",Oleks...
 
Merck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptx
Merck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptxMerck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptx
Merck Moving Beyond Passwords: FIDO Paris Seminar.pptx
 
Advanced Computer Architecture – An Introduction
Advanced Computer Architecture – An IntroductionAdvanced Computer Architecture – An Introduction
Advanced Computer Architecture – An Introduction
 
H2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo Day
H2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo DayH2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo Day
H2O.ai CEO/Founder: Sri Ambati Keynote at Wells Fargo Day
 
"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack
"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack
"Subclassing and Composition – A Pythonic Tour of Trade-Offs", Hynek Schlawack
 
Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)
Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)
Tampa BSides - Chef's Tour of Microsoft Security Adoption Framework (SAF)
 
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
How AI, OpenAI, and ChatGPT impact business and software.
 
Gen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdf
Gen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdfGen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdf
Gen AI in Business - Global Trends Report 2024.pdf
 

A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering.pdf

  • 1. 1/30 A comprehensive guide to prompt engineering leewayhertz.com/prompt-engineering In the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence landscape, Large Language Models (LLMs), with OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the helm, have achieved remarkable prominence. The technology demonstrates how the innovative use of language, coupled with computational power, can redefine human-machine interactions. The driving force behind this surge is ‘prompt engineering,’ an intricate process that involves crafting text prompts to effectively guide LLMs towards accurate task completion, eliminating the need for extra model training. The effectiveness of Large Language Models (LLMs) can be greatly enhanced through carefully crafted prompts. These prompts play a crucial role in extracting superior performance and accuracy from language models. With well-designed prompts, LLMs can bring about transformative outcomes in both research and industrial applications. This enhanced proficiency enables LLMs to excel in a wide range of tasks, including complex question answering systems, arithmetic reasoning algorithms, and numerous others. However, prompt engineering is not solely about crafting clever prompts. It is a multidimensional field that encompasses a wide range of skills and methodologies essential for the development of robust and effective LLMs and interaction with them. Prompt engineering involves incorporating safety measures, integrating domain-specific knowledge, and enhancing the performance of LLMs through the use of customized tools. These various aspects of prompt engineering are crucial for ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of LLMs in real-world applications. With a growing interest in unlocking the full potential of LLMs, there is a pressing need for a comprehensive, technically nuanced guide to prompt engineering. In the following sections, we will delve into the core principles of prompting and explore advanced techniques for crafting effective prompts. What is prompt engineering and what are its uses? Importance of prompt engineering in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence Prompt engineering techniques Prompt engineering: The step-by-step process Key elements of a prompt How to design prompts? Prompt engineering best practices Applications of prompt engineering Risks associated with prompting and solutions
  • 2. 2/30 What is prompt engineering and what are its uses? Prompt engineering is the practice of designing and refining specific text prompts to guide transformer-based language models, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), in generating desired outputs. It involves crafting clear and specific instructions and allowing the model sufficient time to process information. By carefully engineering prompts, practitioners can harness the capabilities of LLMs to achieve different goals. The process of prompt engineering entails analyzing data and task requirements, designing and refining prompts, and fine-tuning the language model based on these prompts. Adjustments to prompt parameters, such as length, complexity, format, and structure, are made to optimize model performance for the specific task at hand. Professionals in the field of artificial intelligence, including researchers, data scientists, machine learning engineers, and natural language processing experts, utilize prompt engineering to improve the performance and capabilities of LLMs and other AI models. It has applications in various domains, such as improving customer experience in e-commerce, enhancing healthcare applications, and building better conversational AI systems. Successful examples of prompt engineering include OpenAI’s GPT-3 model for translation and creative writing, Google’s Smart Reply feature for automated message responses, and DeepMind’s AlphaGo for playing the game of Go at a high level. In each case, carefully crafted prompts were used to train the models and guide their outputs to achieve specific objectives. Prompt engineering is crucial for controlling and guiding the outputs of LLMs, ensuring coherence, relevance, and accuracy in generated responses. It helps practitioners understand the limitations of the models and refine them accordingly, maximizing their potential while mitigating unwanted creative deviations or biases. Isa Fulford and Andrew Ng outlined two principal aspects of prompt engineering in their ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers course: 1. Formulation of clear and specific instructions: This principle stresses the importance of conciseness and specificity in the prompt construction. Clear prompts assist the model in precisely understanding the required task, thus leading to a more accurate and relevant output. 2. Allowing the model time to “Think”: This principle underscores the significance of giving the model enough time to process the given information. Incorporating pauses or “thinking time” in the prompts can help the model better process and interpret the input, leading to an improved output.
  • 3. 3/30 Given the complex nature of LLMs and their inherent tendency to ‘hallucinate,’ carefully designed and controlled prompts can help manage these occurrences. Prompt engineering, therefore, plays a crucial role in maximizing the potential of LLMs and mitigating any unwanted creative deviations. Prompt Input Output Generated Text Language Model LeewayHertz Prompts used for various AI tasks This section provides examples of how prompts are used for different tasks and introduces key concepts relevant to advanced sections. Task Example Prompt Possible Output Text Summarization Explain antibiotics. Antibiotics are medications used to treat bacterial infections… Information Extraction Mention the large language model based product mentioned in the paragraph. The large language model based product mentioned in the paragraph is ChatGPT. Question Answering Answer the question based on the context below. It was approved to help prevent organ rejection after kidney transplants. Text Classification Classify the text into neutral, negative, or positive. Neutral Conversation The following is a conversation with an AI research assistant. Black holes are regions of spacetime where gravity is extremely strong… Code Generation Ask the user for their name and say “Hello.” let name = prompt(“What is your name?”); console.log(Hello, ${name}!);
  • 4. 4/30 Task Example Prompt Possible Output Reasoning The odd numbers in this group add up to an even number: 15, 32, 5, 13, 82, 7, 1. No, the odd numbers in this group add up to an odd number: 119. These examples demonstrate how well-crafted prompts can be utilized for various AI tasks, ranging from text summarization and information extraction to question answering, text classification, conversation, code generation, and reasoning. By providing clear instructions and relevant context in the prompts, we can guide the language model to generate desired outputs. Importance of prompt engineering in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence In the realm of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), prompt engineering has rapidly emerged as an essential aspect due to its transformative role in optimizing and controlling the performance of language models. Maximizing model efficiency: While current transformer-based language models like GPT-3 or Google’s PaLM 2 possess a high degree of intelligence, they are not inherently task-specific. As such, they need well-crafted prompts to effectively generate the desired outputs. An intelligently designed prompt ensures that the model’s capabilities are utilized optimally, leading to the production of relevant, accurate, and high-quality responses. Thus, prompt engineering allows developers to harness the full potential of these advanced models without the need for extensive re-training or fine- tuning. Enhancing task-specific performance: The goal of AI is to enable machines to perform as closely as possible to, or even surpass, human levels. Prompt engineering enables AI models to provide more nuanced, context-aware responses, making them more efficient for specific tasks. Whether it’s language translation, sentiment analysis, or text generation, prompt engineering helps to align the model’s output with the task’s requirements. Understanding model limitations: Working with prompts can provide insight into the limitations of a language model. Through iterative refining of prompts and studying the responses of the model, we can understand its strengths and weaknesses. This knowledge can guide future model development, feature enhancement, and even lead to new approaches in NLP. Increasing model safety: AI safety is an important concern, especially when using language models for public-facing applications. A poorly designed prompt might lead the model to generate inappropriate or harmful content. Skilled prompt engineering can help prevent such issues, making the AI model safer to use.
  • 5. 5/30 Enabling resource efficiency: Training large language models demands considerable computational resources. However, with effective prompt engineering, developers can significantly improve the performance of a pre-trained model without additional resource-intensive training. This not only makes the AI development process more resource-efficient but also more accessible to those with limited computational resources. Facilitating domain-specific knowledge transfer: Through skilled prompt engineering, developers can imbue language models with domain-specific knowledge, allowing them to perform more effectively in specialized fields such as medical, legal, or technical contexts. In a nutshell, prompt engineering is crucial for the effective utilization of large language models in NLP-based and other tasks, helping to maximize model performance, ensure safety, conserve resources, and improve domain-specific outputs. As we move forward into an era where AI is increasingly integrated into daily life, the importance of this field will only continue to grow. Prompt engineering techniques Prompt engineering, an emergent area of research that has seen considerable advancements since 2022, employs a number of novel techniques to enhance the performance of language models. Each of these techniques brings a unique approach to instructing large language models, highlighting the versatility and adaptability inherent in the field of prompt engineering. They form the foundation for effectively communicating with these models, shaping their output, and harnessing their capabilities to their fullest potential. Some of the most useful methods widely implemented in this field are: N-shot prompting (zero-shot prompting and few-shot prompting) The term “N-shot prompting” is used to represent a spectrum of approaches where N symbolizes the count of examples or cues given to the language model to assist in generating predictions. This spectrum includes, notably, zero-shot prompting and few-shot prompting. Zero-shot prompting refers to a situation where the language model generates predictions without any explicit, additional examples. It’s particularly effective for tasks the model has been extensively trained on, including but not limited to, classification tasks like sentiment analysis or spam detection, text transformation tasks like translation or summarization, and simple text generation. Let’s consider the task of sentiment analysis where the model is given a sentence and is expected to classify the sentiment as positive, negative, or neutral. In this case, we could directly ask the model without providing any explicit training examples. This would be an
  • 6. 6/30 instance of zero-shot prompting. Here is how it might look: Input prompt to the model: "What is the sentiment of the following sentence: 'I had an amazing day at the park'?" Given that the language model has been extensively trained on understanding sentiments during its initial training, it can typically respond to such a prompt accurately, despite not receiving specific examples in this context. The expected response would be: Model’s response: "The sentiment of the sentence is positive." In this scenario, we haven’t provided any training examples or clues. We are directly asking the model to perform the task, hence it’s a zero-shot prompt. On the other hand, few-shot prompting employs a limited set of examples, usually ranging from two to five, to guide the model’s output. These instances are designed to direct the model towards improved performance in addressing more context-specific problems. By offering a snapshot of the desired output, few-shot prompts enable the model to tailor its responses more effectively, thus increasing the accuracy of its predictions. Let’s consider the task of generating a rhymed couplet (two-line verse) about a given topic, which is a more context-specific task and might benefit from few-shot prompting. Here is how it might look: Input prompt to the model: "Write a rhymed couplet about a sunflower: Example 1: 'Sunflower with petals bright, Basking gladly in the sunlight.' Example 2: 'Sunflower tall in the summer glow, Nodding as the breezes blow.' Now, write a rhymed couplet about a moonlit night."
  • 7. 7/30 Here, we are providing the model with two examples of how to write a rhymed couplet about a specific topic, in this case, a sunflower. These examples serve as context and steer the model towards the desired output. They essentially “tell” the model what we expect from it. The model, given its extensive training data and the two specific examples (few-shot prompting), is expected to generate a similar rhymed couplet about a moonlit night. The response could be: Model’s response: "Moonlight spreading its silver light, Bathing the world in a tranquil night." In this scenario, we have provided a few examples or clues before asking the model to perform the task, hence it’s a few-shot prompt. Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting, a technique introduced by Google researchers, operates on the concept of encouraging an AI model to elucidate intermediate reasoning stages before delivering the final answer to a multi-stage issue. The objective is to design the model’s reasoning trajectory to resemble the intuitive cognitive process one would employ while tackling a complex problem involving multiple steps. This procedure allows the model to dissect intricate problems into simpler components, thereby enabling it to address challenging reasoning tasks that traditional prompting methods might not handle effectively. Let’s consider a complex problem-solving example in which Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting can be applied. Consider a prompt where we want a language model to solve a multi-step math word problem like this: "John has 10 apples. He gives 3 apples to his friend Sam and then buys 6 more apples from the market. How many apples does John have now?" Using Chain-of-thought prompting, we would split the problem into simpler intermediate steps: Initial Prompt: "John has 10 apples." Intermediate Prompt: "How many apples does John have if he gives 3 to Sam?" Intermediate Answer: "John has 7 apples." Initial Prompt: "John has 7 apples." Intermediate Prompt: "How many apples will John have if he buys 6 more apples from the market?" Intermediate Answer: "John has 13 apples." Finally, we have the answer to the original complex problem: “John has 13 apples now.”
  • 8. 8/30 The chain-of-thought prompting method breaks down the problem into manageable pieces, allowing the model to reason through each step and then build up to the final answer. This method helps to increase the model’s problem-solving capabilities and overall understanding of complex tasks. There are several innovative adaptations of chain-of-thought prompting, including: Self-consistency prompting: This variation involves creating multiple diverse paths of reasoning and selecting answers that show the highest level of consistency. This method ensures increased precision and dependability in answers by implementing a consensus-based system. Let’s consider an example where we use self-consistency prompting in a scenario involving decision-making based on diverse reasoning paths. Let’s assume we are asking a language model to predict the best holiday destination considering the following variables: budget, proximity, weather, and activities. The resulting question could be: "What would be the best holiday destination considering a budget of $3000, a preference for warm weather, and a love for beach activities?" We then sample diverse reasoning paths: Path 1: Initial prompt: "Considering a budget of $3000 and a preference for warm weather." Intermediate answer: "A tropical destination would fit these criteria. Let's consider Bali." Following prompt: "What about considering beach activities?" Final answer: "Bali is renowned for its beach activities. So, it could be the best choice." Path 2: Initial prompt: "Considering a preference for warm weather and a love for beach activities." Intermediate answer: "Hawaii is well-known for its excellent weather and beach activities." Following prompt: "Considering a budget of $3000, is Hawaii a good choice?" Final answer: "Yes, Hawaii could be a great choice considering all three factors." Path 3: Initial prompt: "Considering a budget of $3000 and a love for beach activities." Intermediate answer: "Considering these factors, the Bahamas could be a great destination." Following prompt: "Considering a preference for warm weather, is the Bahamas a good choice?" Final answer:
  • 9. 9/30 "Indeed, the Bahamas is known for its warm weather. So, it could be the best choice." In this case, all paths led to valid holiday destinations. To make a decision, we then apply a majority voting system, wherein the most consistent answer would be chosen as the final output of the self-consistency prompting process. Given the diversity of the prompts, the most consistent destination can be considered the most suitable for the given conditions. Least-to-most prompting (LtM): Here, the chain-of-thought technique begins by fragmenting a problem into a series of less complex sub-problems. The model then solves them in an ordered sequence. Each subsequent sub-problem is solved using the solutions to previously addressed sub-problems. This methodology is motivated by real-world teaching strategies used in educating children. Let’s consider an example where we use least-to-most prompting in the context of solving a mathematical word problem. The problem is: “John has twice as many apples as Jane. Jane has 5 apples. How many apples does John have?” In the least-to-most prompting approach, we would break down this problem into simpler subproblems and solve them sequentially. First subproblem: Initial prompt: "Jane has 5 apples." Intermediate answer: "So, the number of apples Jane has is 5." Second Subproblem: Initial prompt: "John has twice as many apples as Jane." Intermediate answer: "So, John has 2 times the number of apples that Jane has." Third Subproblem: Initial prompt: "Given that Jane has 5 apples and John has twice as many apples as Jane, how many apples does John have?" Final answer: "John has 2 * 5 = 10 apples." In this way, the least-to-most prompting technique decomposes a complex problem into simpler subproblems and builds upon the answers to previously solved subproblems to arrive at the final answer.
  • 10. 10/30 Active prompting: This technique scales the CoT approach by identifying the most crucial and beneficial questions for human annotation. Initially, the model computes the uncertainty present in the LLM’s predictions, then it selects the questions that contain the highest uncertainty. These questions are sent for human annotation, after which they are integrated into a CoT prompt. Active prompting involves identifying and selecting uncertain questions for human annotation. Let’s consider an example from the perspective of a language model engaged in a conversation about climate change. Let’s assume our model has identified three potential questions that could be generated from its current conversation, with varying levels of uncertainty: 1. What is the average global temperature? 2. What are the primary causes of global warming? 3. How does carbon dioxide contribute to the greenhouse effect? In this scenario, the model might be relatively confident about the answers to the first two questions, since these are common questions about the topic. However, it might be less certain about the specifics of how carbon dioxide contributes to the greenhouse effect. Active prompting would identify the third question as the most uncertain, and thus most valuable for human annotation. After this question is selected, a human would provide the model with the information required to correctly answer the question. The annotated question and answer would then be added to the model’s prompt, enabling it to better handle similar questions in the future. Generated knowledge prompting Generated knowledge prompting operates on the principle of leveraging a large language model’s ability to produce potentially beneficial information related to a given prompt. The concept is to let the language model offer additional knowledge which can then be used to shape a more informed, contextual, and precise final response. For instance, if we are using a language model to provide answers to complex technical questions, we might first use a prompt that asks the model to generate an overview or explanation of the topic related to the question. Suppose the question is: “Can you explain how quantum entanglement works in quantum computing?” We might first prompt the model with a question like, “Provide an overview of quantum entanglement.” The model might generate a response detailing the basics of quantum entanglement.
  • 11. 11/30 We would then use this generated knowledge as part of our next prompt. We might ask: “Given that quantum entanglement involves the instantaneous connection between two particles regardless of distance, how does this concept apply in quantum computing?” By using generated knowledge prompting in this way, we are able to facilitate more informed, accurate, and contextually aware responses from the language model. Directional stimulus prompting Directional stimulus prompting is another advanced technique in the field of prompt engineering where the aim is to direct the language model’s response in a specific manner. This technique can be particularly useful when you are seeking an output that has a certain format, structure, or tone. For instance, suppose you want the model to generate a concise summary of a given text. Using a directional stimulus prompt, you might specify not only the task (“summarize this text”) but also the desired outcome, by adding additional instructions such as “in one sentence” or “in less than 50 words”. This helps to direct the model towards generating a summary that aligns with your requirements. Here is an example: Given a news article about a new product launch, instead of asking the model “Summarize this article,” you might use a directional stimulus prompt such as “Summarize this article in a single sentence that could be used as a headline.” Another example could be in generating rhymes. Instead of asking, “Generate a rhyme,” a directional stimulus prompt might be, “Generate a rhyme in the style of Dr. Seuss about friendship.” By providing clear, specific instructions within the prompt, directional stimulus prompting helps guide the language model to generate output that aligns closely with your specific needs and preferences. ReAct prompting ReAct prompting is a technique inspired by the way humans learn new tasks and make decisions through a combination of “reasoning” and “acting”. This innovative methodology seeks to address the limitations of previous methods like Chain-of-thought (CoT) prompting, which, despite its ability to generate reasonable answers for various tasks, has issues related to fact hallucination and error propagation due to its lack of interaction with external environments and inability to update its knowledge. ReAct prompting pushes the boundaries of large language models by prompting them to not only generate verbal reasoning traces but also actions related to the task at hand. This hybrid approach enables the model to dynamically reason and adapt its plans while
  • 12. 12/30 interacting with external environments, such as databases, APIs, or in simpler cases, information-rich sites like Wikipedia. For example, if we task an LLM with the goal of creating a detailed report on the current state of artificial intelligence, using ReAct prompting, the model would not just generate responses based on its pre-existing knowledge. Instead, it would plan a sequence of actions, such as fetching the latest AI research papers from a database or querying for recent news on AI from reputable sources. It would then integrate this up-to-date information into its reasoning process, resulting in a more accurate and comprehensive report. This two-pronged approach of acting and reasoning can mitigate the limitations observed in prior prompting methods and empower LLMs with enhanced accuracy and depth. Consider a scenario where a user wants to know the current state of a particular stock. Using the ReAct prompting technique, the task might unfold in the following steps: 1. Step 1 (Reasoning): The LLM determines that to fulfill this request, it needs to fetch the most recent stock information. The model identifies the required action, i.e., accessing the latest stock data from a reliable financial database or API. 2. Step 2 (Acting): The model generates a command to retrieve the data: “Fetch latest stock data for ‘Company X’ from the Financial Database API”. 3. Step 3 (Interaction): The command is executed, and the model receives the up-to- date stock information. 4. Step 4 (Reasoning and Acting): With the latest stock data now available, the model processes this information and generates a detailed response: “As of today, the stock price of ‘Company X’ is at $Y, which represents a Z% increase from last week.” In this example, the LLM demonstrates its ability to reason and generate actions (fetching the data), interact with an external environment (the financial database API), and ultimately provide a precise and informed response based on the most recent data available. Multimodal CoT prompting Multimodal CoT prompting is an extension of the original CoT prompting, involving multiple modes of data, usually both text and images. By using this technique, a large language model can leverage visual information in addition to text to generate more accurate and contextually relevant responses. This allows the system to carry out more complex reasoning that involves both visual and textual data. For instance, consider a scenario where a user wants to know the type of bird shown in a particular image. Using the multimodal CoT prompting technique, the task might unfold as follows:
  • 13. 13/30 1. Step 1 (Reasoning): The LLM recognizes that it needs to identify the bird in the image. However, instead of making a direct guess, it decides to carry out a sequence of reasoning steps, first trying to identify the distinguishing features of the bird. 2. Step 2 (Acting): The model generates a command to analyze the image: “Analyze the bird’s features in the image, such as color, size, and beak shape.” 3. Step 3 (Interaction): The command is executed, and the model receives the visual analysis of the bird: “The bird has blue feathers, a small body, and a pointed beak.” 4. Step 4 (Reasoning and Acting): With these distinguishing features now available, the model cross-references this information with its textual knowledge about bird species. It concludes that the bird is likely to be a “Blue Tit.” 5. Step 5 (Final Response): The model provides its final answer: “Based on the blue feathers, small body, and pointed beak, the bird in the image appears to be a Blue Tit.” In this example, multimodal CoT prompting allows the LLM to generate a chain of reasoning that involves both image analysis and textual cross-referencing, leading to a more informed and accurate answer. Graph prompting Graph prompting is a method for leveraging the structure and content of a graph for prompting a large language model. In graph prompting, you use a graph as the primary source of information and then translate that information into a format that can be understood and processed by the LLM. The graph could represent many types of relationships, including social networks, biological pathways, and organizational hierarchies, among others. For example, let us consider a graph that represents relationships between individuals in a social network. The nodes of the graph represent people, and the edges represent relationships between them. Let us say you want to find out who in the network has the most connections. You would start by translating the graph into a textual description that an LLM can process. This could be a list of relationships like “Alice is friends with Bob,” “Bob is friends with Charlie,” “Alice is friends with Charlie,” and so on. Next, you would craft a prompt that asks the LLM to analyze these relationships and identify the person with the most connections. The prompt might look like this: “Given the following list of friendships, who has the most friends: Alice is friends with Bob, Bob is friends with Charlie, Alice is friends with Charlie.” The LLM would then process this prompt and provide an answer based on its analysis of the information. For instance, in this case, the answer might be “Alice”, given that she has the most connections according to the provided list of relationships.
  • 14. 14/30 Through graph prompting, you are essentially converting structured graph data into a text- based format that LLMs can understand and reason about, opening up new possibilities for question answering and problem solving. Prompt engineering: The step-by-step process Prompt engineering is a multi-step process that involves several key tasks. Here they are: Understanding the problem: Understanding the problem is a critical first step in prompt engineering. It requires not just knowing what you want your model to do, but also understanding the underlying structure and nuances of the task at hand. This is where the art and science of problem analysis in the context of AI comes into play. The type of problem you are dealing with greatly influences the approach you will take when crafting prompts. For instance: Question-answering tasks: For a question-answering task, you would need to understand the type of information needed in the answer. Is it factual? Analytical? Subjective? Also, you would have to consider whether the answer requires reasoning or context. Text generation tasks: If it is a text generation task, factors like the desired length of the output, its format (story, poem, article), and its tone or style come into play. Sentiment analysis tasks: For sentiment analysis, the prompt should be structured to guide the model to recognize subjective expressions and discern the sentiment from the text. Understanding the problem also involves identifying any potential challenges or limitations associated with the task. For instance, a task might involve domain-specific language, slang, or cultural references, which the model may or may not be familiar with. Moreover, understanding the problem thoroughly helps in anticipating how the model might react to different prompts. You might need to provide explicit instructions, or use a specific format for the prompt. Or, you may need to iterate and refine the prompts several times to get the desired output. Ultimately, a deep understanding of the problem allows for the creation of more effective and precise prompts, which in turn leads to better performance from the large language model. Crafting the initial prompt
  • 15. 15/30 Crafting the initial prompt is an essential task in the process of prompt engineering. This step involves the careful composition of an initial set of instructions to guide the language model’s output, based on the understanding gained from the problem analysis. The main objective of a prompt is to provide clear, concise, and unambiguous directives to the language model. It acts as a steering wheel, directing the model to the required path and desired output. A well-structured prompt can effectively utilize the capabilities of the model, producing high-quality and task-specific responses. In some scenarios, especially in tasks that require a specific format or context-dependent results, the initial prompt may also incorporate a few examples of the desired inputs and outputs, known as few-shot examples. This method is often used to give the model a clearer understanding of the expected result. For instance, if you want the model to translate English text into French, your prompt might include a few examples of English sentences and their corresponding French translations. This helps the model to grasp the pattern and the context better. Remember, while crafting the initial prompt, it is also essential to maintain flexibility. The ideal output is seldom achieved with the first prompt attempt. Often, you would need to iterate and refine the prompts, based on the model’s responses, to achieve the desired results. This process of iterative refinement is an integral part of prompt engineering. Evaluating the model’s response Evaluating the model’s response is a crucial phase in prompt engineering that follows after the initial prompt has been utilized to generate a model response. This step is key in understanding the effectiveness of the crafted prompt and the language model’s interpretive capacity. The first thing to assess is whether the model’s output aligns with the task’s intended goal. For example, if the task is about translating English sentences into Spanish, does the output correctly and accurately render the meaning in Spanish? Or if the task is to generate a summary of a lengthy article, does the output present a concise and coherent overview of the article’s content? When the model’s response does not meet the desired objective, it’s essential to identify the areas of discrepancy. This could be in terms of relevance, accuracy, completeness, or contextual understanding. For instance, the model might produce a grammatically correct sentence that is contextually incorrect or irrelevant. Upon identifying the gaps, the aim should be to understand why the model is producing such output. Is the prompt not explicit enough? Or is the task too complex for the model’s existing capabilities? Answering these questions can provide insights into the limitations of the model
  • 16. 16/30 as well as the prompt, guiding the next step in the prompt engineering process – Refining the prompts. Evaluating the model’s response is a crucial iterative process in prompt engineering, acting as a feedback loop that consistently informs and improves the process of crafting more effective prompts. Iterating and refining the prompt Iterating and refining the prompt is an essential step in prompt engineering that arises from the evaluations of the model’s response. This stage centers on improving the effectiveness of the prompt based on the identified shortcomings or flaws in the model’s output. When refining a prompt, several strategies can be employed. These strategies are predominantly influenced by the nature of the misalignment between the model’s output and the desired objective. For instance, if the model’s response deviates from the task’s goal due to a lack of explicit instructions in the prompt, the refinement process may involve making the instructions clearer and more specific. Explicit instructions help ensure that the model comprehends the intended objective and doesn’t deviate into unrelated content or produce irrelevant responses. On the other hand, if the model is struggling to understand the structure of the task or the required output, it may be beneficial to provide more examples within the prompt. These examples can act as guidelines, demonstrating the correct form and substance of the desired output. Similarly, the format or structure of the prompt itself can be altered in the refinement process. The alterations could range from changing the order of sentences or the phrasing of questions to the inclusion of specific keywords or format cues. The iteration and refinement process in prompt engineering is cyclic, with multiple rounds of refinements often necessary to arrive at a prompt that most effectively elicits the desired output from the model. It is a process that underlines the essence of prompt engineering – the fine-tuning of language to communicate effectively with large language models. Testing the prompt on different models Testing the prompt on different models is a significant step in prompt engineering that can provide in-depth insights into the robustness and generalizability of the refined prompt. This step entails applying your prompt to a variety of large language models and observing their responses. It is essential to understand that while a prompt may work effectively with one
  • 17. 17/30 model, it may not yield the desired result when applied to another. This is because different models may have different architectures, training methodologies, or datasets that influence their understanding and response to a particular prompt. The size of the model plays a significant role in its ability to understand and respond accurately to a prompt. For instance, larger models often have a broader context window and can generate more nuanced responses. On the other hand, smaller models may require more explicit prompting due to their reduced contextual understanding. The model’s architecture, such as transformer-based models like GPT-3 or LSTM-based models, can also influence how it processes and responds to prompts. Some architectures may excel at certain tasks, while others may struggle, and this can be unveiled during this testing phase. Lastly, the training data of the models plays a crucial role in their performance. A model trained on a wide range of topics and genres may provide a more versatile response than a model trained on a narrow, specialized dataset. By testing your prompt across various models, you can gain insights into the robustness of your prompt, understand how different model characteristics influence the response, and further refine your prompt if necessary. This process ultimately ensures that your prompt is as effective and versatile as possible, reinforcing the applicability of prompt engineering across different large language models. Scaling the prompt After refining and testing your prompt to a point where it consistently produces desirable results, it’s time to scale it. Scaling, in the context of prompt engineering, involves extending the utility of a successfully implemented prompt across broader contexts, tasks, or automation levels. 1. Automating prompt generation: Depending on the nature of the task and the model’s requirements, it may be possible to automate the process of generating prompts. This could involve creating a script or a tool that generates prompts based on certain parameters or rules. Automating prompt generation can save a significant amount of time, especially when dealing with a high volume of tasks or data. It can also reduce the chance of human error and ensure consistency in the prompt generation process. 2. Creating variations of the prompt: Another way to scale a prompt is to create variations that can be used for related tasks. For example, if you have a prompt that successfully guides a model in performing sentiment analysis on product reviews, you might create variations of this prompt to apply it to movie reviews, book reviews, or restaurant reviews. This approach leverages the foundational work that went into creating the original prompt and allows you to address a wider range of tasks more quickly and efficiently.
  • 18. 18/30 Scaling the prompt is the final step in the prompt engineering process, reflecting the successful development of an effective prompt. It represents a transition from development to deployment, as the prompt begins to be used in real-world applications on a broader scale. It’s worth noting that prompt engineering is an iterative process. It requires ongoing testing and refinement to optimize the model’s performance for the given task. Key elements of a prompt Delving into the world of prompt engineering, we encounter four pivotal components that together form the cornerstone of this discipline. These are instructions, context, input data, and output indicators. Together, they provide a framework for effective communication with large language models, shaping their responses and guiding their operations. Here, we explore each of these elements in depth, helping you comprehend and apply them efficiently in your AI development journey. Instruction: This is the directive given to the model that details what is expected in terms of the task to be performed. This could range from “translate the following text into French” to “generate a list of ideas for a science fiction story”. The instruction is usually the first part of the prompt and sets the overall task for the model. Context: This element provides additional information that can guide the model’s response. For instance, in a translation task, you might provide some background on the text to be translated (like it’s a dialogue from a film or a passage from a scientific paper). The context can help the model understand the style, tone, and specifics of the information needed. Input data: This refers to the actual data that the model will be working with. In a translation task, this would be the text to be translated. In a question-answering task, this would be the question being asked. Output indicator: This part of the prompt signals to the model the format in which the output should be generated. For instance, you might specify that you want the model’s response in the form of a list, a paragraph, a single sentence, or any other specific structure. This can help narrow down the model’s output and guide it towards more useful responses. While these elements are not always required in every prompt, a well-crafted prompt often includes a blend of these components, tailored to the specific task at hand. Each element contributes to shaping the model’s output, guiding it towards generating responses that align with the desired goal. How to design prompts? Importance of LLM settings
  • 19. 19/30 Designing prompts for a large language model involves understanding and manipulating specific settings that can steer the model’s output. These settings can be modified either directly or via an API. Key settings include the ‘Temperature’ and ‘Top_p’ parameters. The ‘Temperature’ parameter controls the randomness of the model’s output. Lower values make the model’s output more deterministic, favoring the most probable next token. This is useful for tasks requiring precise and factual answers, like a fact-based question-answer system. On the other hand, increasing the ‘Temperature’ value induces more randomness in the model’s responses, allowing for more creative and diverse results. This is beneficial for creative tasks like poem generation. The ‘Top_p’ parameter, used in a sampling technique known as nucleus sampling, also influences the determinism of the model’s response. A lower ‘Top_p’ value results in more exact and factual answers, while a higher value increases the diversity of the responses. One key recommendation is to adjust either ‘Temperature’ or ‘Top_p,’ but not both simultaneously, to prevent overcomplicating the system and to better control the effect of these settings. Remember that the performance of your prompt may vary depending on the version of LLM you are using, and it’s always beneficial to iterate and experiment with your settings and prompt design. Key strategies for successful prompt design Here are some tips to keep in mind while you are designing your prompts Begin with the basics While embarking on the journey of designing prompts you need to remember that it’s a step- by-step process that demands persistent tweaking and testing to achieve excellence. Platforms like OpenAI or Cohere provide a user-friendly environment for this venture. Kick off with basic prompts, gradually enriching them with more components and context as you strive for enhanced outcomes. Maintaining different versions of your prompts is crucial in this progression. Through this guide, you will discover that clarity, simplicity, and precision often lead to superior results. For complex tasks involving numerous subtasks, consider deconstructing them into simpler components, progressively developing as you achieve promising results. This approach prevents an overwhelming start to the prompt design process. Crafting effective prompts: The power of instructions
  • 20. 20/30 As a prompt designer, one of your most potent tools is the instruction you give to the language model. Instructions such as “Write,” “Classify,” “Summarize,” “Translate,” “Order,” etc., guide the model to execute a variety of tasks. Remember, crafting an effective instruction often involves a considerable amount of experimentation. To optimize the instruction for your specific use case, test different instruction patterns with varying keywords, contexts, and data types. The rule of thumb here is to ensure the context is as specific and relevant to your task as possible. Here is a practical tip: most prompt designers suggest placing the instruction at the start of the prompt. A clear separator, like “###”, could be used to distinguish the instruction from the context. For example: “### Instruction ### Translate the following text to French: Text: “Good morning!” By following these guidelines, you will be well on your way to creating effective and precise prompts. The essence of specificity in prompt design In the realm of prompt design, specificity is vital. The more accurately you define the task and instruction, the more aligned the outcomes will be with your expectations. It’s not so much about using certain tokens or keywords, but rather about formulating a well-structured and descriptive prompt. A useful technique is to include examples within your prompts; they can guide the model to produce the output in the desired format. For instance, if you are seeking a summarization of a text in three sentences, your instruction could be: “Summarize the following text into 3 sentences: …” Keep in mind that while specificity is important, there is a balance to be found. You should be conscious of the prompt’s length, as there are limitations to consider. Additionally, overloading the prompt with irrelevant details may confuse the model rather than guiding it. The goal is to include details that meaningfully contribute to the task at hand. Prompt design is a process of constant experimentation and iteration. Always seek to refine and enhance your prompts for optimal outcomes. Experiment with different levels of specificity and detail to find what works best for your unique applications. Sidestepping ambiguity in prompt design While prompt design requires a balance of detail and creativity, it is crucial to avoid ambiguity or impreciseness. Much like clear communication, precise instructions yield better results. An overly clever or convoluted prompt can lead to less desirable outcomes. Instead, focus on
  • 21. 21/30 clarity and specificity. For instance, let’s say you want your model to generate a brief definition of the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’. An imprecise prompt might be: “Talk about this thing that’s being used a lot these days, Artificial Intelligence.” While the model may understand this prompt, it’s indirect and lacks clarity. You may receive a lengthy discourse rather than the succinct definition you desire. A clearer, more direct prompt could be: “Define the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ in one sentence.” This prompt is precise and directs the model to generate a specific output. The output, in this case, could be: “Artificial Intelligence is a branch of computer science focused on creating machines capable of mimicking human intelligence.” Through avoiding ambiguity in your prompts, you can effectively guide the model to produce the desired output. Choosing clarity over restrictions In prompt designing, it’s often more beneficial to instruct the model on what to do, rather than dictating what not to do. This approach promotes precision and directs the model towards generating useful responses. Consider, for instance, you are trying to get a language model to recommend a book. An ineffective instruction might be: “Do not recommend any books that are not in the top 10 best sellers list.” This statement might confuse the model as it’s primarily focusing on what not to do. A more productive instruction would be: “Recommend a book from the top 10 best sellers list.” This is direct, clear, and focuses the model on the task you desire. The output could be: “One of the top 10 best sellers right now is ‘The Code Breaker’ by Walter Isaacson. It’s a fascinating look into the world of genetics and biochemistry.” Emphasizing the desired action in your prompt, rather than the prohibited ones, ensures the model clearly understands your expectations and is more likely to deliver an appropriate response.
  • 22. 22/30 Prompt engineering best practices Craft detailed and direct instructions Strategy 1: Use delimiters such as , “““, < >, <tag> </tag> to distinguish different sections of the input. This helps in structuring your input effectively and preventing prompt errors. For instance, using the delimiters to specify the text to be summarized. Strategy 2: Request for a structured output. This could be in a JSON format, which can easily be converted into a list or dictionary in Python later on. Strategy 3: Confirm whether conditions are met. The prompt can be designed to verify assumptions first. This is particularly helpful when dealing with edge cases. For example, if the input text doesn’t contain any instructions, you can instruct the model to write “No steps provided”. Strategy 4: Leverage few-shot prompting. Provide the model with successful examples of completed tasks, then ask the model to carry out a similar task. Allow the model time to ‘Think’ Strategy 1: Detail the steps needed to complete a task and demand output in a specified format. For complex tasks, breaking them down into smaller steps can be beneficial, just as humans often find step-by-step instructions helpful. You can ask the model to follow a logical sequence or chain of reasoning before arriving at the final answer. Strategy 2: Instruct the model to work out its solution before jumping to a conclusion. This helps the model in thoroughly processing the task at hand before delivering the output. Opt for the latest model To attain optimal results, it is advisable to use the most advanced models. Provide detailed descriptions Clarity is crucial. Be specific and descriptive about the required context, outcome, length, format, style, etc. For instance, instead of simply requesting a poem about OpenAI, specify details like poem length, style, and a particular theme, such as a recent product launch. Use examples to illustrate desired output format The model responds better to specific format requirements shown through examples. This approach also simplifies the process of parsing multiple outputs programmatically. Start with zero-shot, then few-shot, and finally fine-tune
  • 23. 23/30 For complex tasks, start with zero-shot, then proceed with few-shot techniques. If these methods don’t yield satisfactory results, consider fine-tuning the model. Eliminate vague and unnecessary descriptions Precision is essential. Avoid vague and “fluffy” descriptions. For instance, instead of saying, “The description should be fairly short,” provide a clear guideline such as, “Use a 3 to 5 sentence paragraph to describe this product.” Give direct instructions over prohibitions Instead of telling the model what not to do, instruct it on what to do. For instance, in a customer service conversation scenario, instruct the model to diagnose the problem and suggest a solution, avoiding any questions related to personally identifiable information (PII). Use leading words for code generation For code generation tasks, nudge the model towards a particular pattern using leading words. This might include using words like ‘import’ to hint the model that it should start writing in Python, or ‘SELECT’ for initiating a SQL statement. Applications of prompt engineering Program-aided Language Model (PAL) Program-aided language models in prompt engineering involve integrating programmatic instructions and structures to enhance the capabilities of language models. By incorporating additional programming logic and constraints, PAL enables more precise and context-aware responses. This approach allows developers to guide the model’s behavior, specify the desired output format, provide relevant examples, and refine prompts based on intermediate results. By leveraging programmatic guidance, PAL techniques empower language models to generate more accurate and tailored responses, making them valuable tools for a wide range of applications in natural language processing. Here is an example of how PAL can be applied in prompt engineering: Prompt: Given a list of numbers, compute the sum of all even numbers. Input: [2, 5, 8, 10, 3, 6] Output: The sum of all even numbers is 26.
  • 24. 24/30 In this example, the prompt includes a programmatic instruction to compute the sum of even numbers in a given list. By providing this specific task and format, the language model guided by PAL techniques can generate a response that precisely fulfills the desired computation. The integration of programmatic logic and instructions in the prompt ensures accurate and contextually appropriate results. Generating data Generating data is an important application of prompt engineering with large language models (LLMs). LLMs have the ability to generate coherent and contextually relevant text, which can be leveraged to create synthetic data for various purposes. For example, in natural language processing tasks, generating data using LLMs can be valuable for training and evaluating models. By designing prompts that instruct the LLM to generate specific types of data, such as question-answer pairs, text summaries, or dialogue interactions, researchers and practitioners can create large volumes of labeled training data. This synthetic data can then be used to train and improve NLP models, as well as to evaluate their performance. Here is an example: Prompt: Generate 100 question-answer pairs about famous landmarks. Using this prompt, the LLM can generate a diverse set of question-answer pairs related to famous landmarks around the world. The generated data can be used to enhance question- answering models or to augment existing datasets for training and evaluation. By employing prompt engineering techniques, researchers and developers can effectively utilize LLMs to generate data that aligns with their specific needs, enabling them to conduct experiments, evaluate models, and advance various domains of research. Generating code Generating code is another application of prompt engineering with large language models. LLMs can be prompted to generate code snippets, functions, or even entire programs, which can be valuable in software development, automation, and programming education. For example, let’s consider a scenario where a developer wants to generate a Python function that calculates the factorial of a number: Prompt:
  • 25. 25/30 Write a Python function named "factorial" that takes an integer as input and returns its factorial. By providing this specific prompt to the LLM, it can generate code that implements the factorial function in Python: Generated Code: def factorial(n): if n == 0 or n == 1: return 1 else: return n * factorial(n - 1) The generated code demonstrates the recursive implementation of the factorial function in Python. Prompt engineering allows developers to design prompts with clear instructions and specifications, such as function names, input requirements, and desired output formats. By carefully crafting prompts, LLMs can be guided to generate code snippets tailored to specific programming tasks or requirements. This application of prompt engineering can be highly beneficial for developers seeking assistance in code generation, automating repetitive tasks, or even for educational purposes where learners can explore different code patterns and learn from the generated examples. Risks associated with prompting and solutions As we harness the power of large language models and explore their capabilities, it is important to acknowledge the risks and potential misuses associated with prompting. While well-crafted prompts can yield impressive results, it is crucial to understand the potential pitfalls and safety considerations when using LLMs for real-world applications. This section sheds light on the risks and misuses of LLMs, particularly through techniques like prompt injections. It also addresses harmful behaviors that may arise and provides insights into mitigating these risks through effective prompting techniques. Additionally, topics such as generalizability, calibration, biases, social biases, and factuality are explored to foster a comprehensive understanding of the challenges involved in working with LLMs.
  • 26. 26/30 By recognizing these risks and adopting responsible practices, we can navigate the evolving landscape of LLM applications while promoting ethical and safe use of these powerful language models. Adversarial prompting Adversarial prompting refers to the intentional manipulation of prompts to exploit vulnerabilities or biases in language models, resulting in unintended or harmful outputs. Adversarial prompts aim to trick or deceive the model into generating misleading, biased, or inappropriate responses. Prompt injection: Prompt injection is a technique used in adversarial prompting where additional instructions or content is inserted into the prompt to influence the model’s behavior. By injecting specific keywords, phrases, or instructions, the model’s output can be manipulated to produce desired or undesired outcomes. Prompt injection can be used to introduce biases, generate offensive or harmful content, or manipulate the model’s understanding of the task. Prompt leaking: Prompt leaking occurs when sensitive or confidential information unintentionally gets exposed in the model’s response. This can happen when the model incorporates parts of the prompt, including personally identifiable information, into its generated output. Prompt leaking poses privacy and security risks, as it may disclose sensitive data to unintended recipients or expose vulnerabilities in the model’s handling of input prompts. Jailbreaking: In the context of prompt engineering, jailbreaking refers to bypassing or overriding safety mechanisms put in place to restrict or regulate the behavior of language models. It involves manipulating the prompt in a way that allows the model to generate outputs that may be inappropriate, unethical, or against the intended guidelines. Jailbreaking can lead to the generation of offensive content, misinformation, or other undesirable outcomes. Overall, adversarial prompting techniques like prompt injection, prompt leaking, and jailbreaking highlight the importance of responsible and ethical prompt engineering practices. It is essential to be aware of the potential risks and vulnerabilities associated with language models and to take precautions to mitigate these risks while ensuring the safe and responsible use of these powerful AI systems. Defense tactics for adversarial prompting Add defense in the instruction: One defense tactic is to explicitly enforce the desired behavior through the instruction given to the model. While this approach is not foolproof, it emphasizes the power of well-crafted prompts in guiding the model towards the intended output.
  • 27. 27/30 Parameterize prompt components: Inspired by techniques used in SQL injection, one potential solution is to parameterize different components of the prompt, separating instructions from inputs and handling them differently. This approach can lead to cleaner and safer solutions, although it may come with some trade-offs in terms of flexibility. Quotes and additional formatting: Escaping or quoting input strings can provide a workaround to prevent certain prompt injections. This tactic, suggested by Riley, helps maintain robustness across phrasing variations and highlights the importance of proper formatting and careful consideration of prompt structure. Adversarial prompt detector: Language models themselves can be leveraged to detect and filter out adversarial prompts. By fine-tuning or training an LLM specifically for detecting such prompts, it is possible to incorporate an additional layer of defense to mitigate the impact of adversarial inputs. Selecting model types: Choosing the appropriate model type can also contribute to defense against prompt injections. For certain tasks, using fine-tuned models or creating k-shot prompts for non-instruct models can be effective. Fine-tuning a model on a large number of examples can help improve robustness and accuracy, reducing reliance on instruction-based models. Guardrails and safety measures: Some language models, like ChatGPT, incorporate guardrails and safety measures to prevent malicious or dangerous prompts. While these measures provide a level of protection, they are not perfect and can still be susceptible to novel adversarial prompts. It is important to recognize the trade-off between safety constraints and desired behaviors. Factuality It is worth noting that the field of prompt engineering and defense against adversarial prompting is an evolving area, and more research and development are needed to establish robust and comprehensive defense tactics against text-based attacks. Factuality is a significant risk in prompting as LLMs can generate responses that appear coherent and convincing but may lack accuracy. To address this, there are several solutions that can be employed: Provide ground truth: Including reliable and factual information as part of the context can help guide the model to generate more accurate responses. This can involve referencing related articles, excerpts from reliable sources, or specific sections from Wikipedia entries. By incorporating verified information, the model is less likely to produce fabricated or inconsistent responses.
  • 28. 28/30 Control response diversity: Modifying the probability parameters of the model can influence the diversity of its responses. By decreasing the probability values, the model can be guided towards generating more focused and factually accurate answers. Additionally, explicitly instructing the model to acknowledge uncertainty by admitting when it doesn’t possess the required knowledge can also mitigate the risk of generating false information. Provide examples in the prompt: Including a combination of questions and responses in the prompt can guide the model to differentiate between topics it is familiar with and those it is not. By explicitly demonstrating examples of both known and unknown information, the model can better understand the boundaries of its knowledge and avoid generating false or speculative responses. These solutions help address the risk of factuality in prompting by promoting more accurate and reliable output from LLMs. However, it is important to continuously evaluate and refine the prompt engineering strategies to ensure the best possible balance between generating coherent responses and maintaining factual accuracy. Biases Biases in LLMs pose a significant risk as they can lead to the generation of problematic and biased content. These biases can adversely impact the performance of the model in downstream tasks and perpetuate harmful stereotypes or discriminatory behavior. To address this, it is essential to implement appropriate solutions: Effective prompting strategies: Crafting well-designed prompts can help mitigate biases to some extent. By providing specific instructions and context that encourage fairness and inclusivity, the model can be guided to generate more unbiased responses. Additionally, incorporating diverse and representative examples in the prompt can help the model learn from a broader range of perspectives, reducing the likelihood of biased output. Moderation and filtering: Implementing robust moderation and filtering mechanisms can help identify and mitigate biased content generated by LLMs. This involves developing systems that can detect and flag potentially biased or harmful outputs in real-time. Human reviewers or content moderation teams can then review and address any problematic content, ensuring that biased or discriminatory responses are not propagated. Diverse training data: Training LLMs on diverse datasets that encompass a wide range of perspectives and experiences can help reduce biases. By exposing the model to a more comprehensive set of examples, it learns to generate responses that are more balanced and representative. Regularly updating and expanding the training data with diverse sources can further enhance the model’s ability to generate unbiased content.
  • 29. 29/30 Post-processing and debiasing techniques: Applying post-processing techniques to the generated output can help identify and mitigate biases. These techniques involve analyzing the model’s responses for potential biases and adjusting them to ensure fairness and inclusivity. Debiasing methods can be employed to retrain the model, explicitly addressing and reducing biases in its output. It is important to note that addressing biases in LLMs is an ongoing challenge, and no single solution can completely eliminate biases. It requires a combination of thoughtful prompt engineering, robust moderation practices, diverse training data, and continuous improvement of the underlying models. Close collaboration between researchers, practitioners, and communities is crucial to develop effective strategies and ensure responsible and unbiased use of LLMs. Endnote The future of language model learning is deeply intertwined with the ongoing evolution of prompt engineering. As we stand on the threshold of this technological transformation, the vast and untapped potential of prompt engineering is coming into focus. It serves as a bridge between the complex world of AI and the intricacy of human language, facilitating communication that is not just effective, but also intuitive and humanlike. In the realm of LLM, well-engineered prompts play a pivotal role. They are the steering wheel guiding the direction of machine learning models, helping them navigate through the maze of human languages with precision and understanding. As AI technologies become more sophisticated and integrated into our daily lives – from voice assistants on our phones to AI chatbots in customer service – the role of prompt engineering in crafting nuanced, context- aware prompts have become more important than ever. Moreover, as the field of LLM expands into newer territories like automated content creation, data analysis, and even healthcare diagnostics, prompt engineering will be at the helm, guiding the course. It’s not just about crafting questions for AI to answer; it’s about understanding the context, the intent, and the desired outcome, and encoding all of that into a concise, effective prompt. Investing time, research, and resources into prompt engineering today will have a ripple effect on our AI-enabled future. It will fuel advancements in LLM and lay the groundwork for AI technologies we can’t even envision yet. The future of LLM, and indeed, the future of our increasingly AI-integrated world, rests in the hands of skilled prompt engineers. Enhance your LLM’s power and performance with prompt engineering. To harness the power of prompt engineering, hire LeewayHertz’s LLM development services today and ensure business success in today’s AI-centric world!
  • 30. 30/30