Prompt Engineering

Definitions

1. The practice of crafting input text (prompts) to elicit desired outputs from a language model. Part art, part science, part dark magic. Ranges from 'please be concise' to elaborate multi-page system prompts with examples and constraints.

   In plain English: The skill of writing instructions for AI in a way that gets the best results — like learning exactly how to ask a question to get a useful answer.

Etymology

2020

GPT-3's API release creates a new skill: crafting inputs (prompts) to elicit desired outputs from language models

2022

Prompt engineering becomes a job title; some positions offer six-figure salaries for the ability to wrangle AI models

2023

Chain-of-thought and few-shot prompting are formalized as techniques, elevating prompt engineering from art to emerging science

Related Terms

• GPT
• RAG
• Context Window
• Vibe Coding
• Zero-Shot Learning
• Chain of Thought
• system prompt
• scaffolding