Prompt Engineering has emerged as a crucial technique to maximize the effectiveness of AI models. Prompt Engineering has become popular with the rise of Large Language Models such as ChatGPT, despite being around for decades.

What's a Prompt?

A Prompt is the input that guides the AI model to generate a response. Prompts are the initial query that sets the context for the AI system. In other words, it is the starting point of the interaction between humans and machines. A well-defined Prompt guides the AI model behavior in the desired direction.

What Are Prompt Types?

Most Prompts fall into five categories: Instructional Prompts, Completion Prompts, Question-Answer Prompts, Conditional Prompts, and Action Prompts.

1. Instructional Prompts

Instructional Prompts provide explicit instructions to the AI model about the expected response, such as "Write a summary of the given text." which tells the AI to generate a concise summary.

2. Completion Prompts

Completion Prompts involve providing information and asking the AI model to continue or complete it. For example, Completion Prompts can initiate text generation, where the model continues a paragraph or story.

3. Question-Answer Prompts

Question-Answer Prompts, Q&A Prompts, or Question-Answering Prompts involve asking questions to receive accurate answers. Chatbots, voicebots, and information retrieval systems are examples of Question-Answer Prompts.

4. Conditional Prompts

Conditional Prompts add a specific condition or context to the input, such as “If the weather is rainy, suggest indoor activities."

5. Action Prompts

Action Prompts or Actionable Prompts instruct the AI model to perform a particular task or operation in response to the input. “Set a reminder for tomorrow at 3 PM to call John.” and “Transfer my call to an agent” are examples of Action Prompts.

What's Prompt Engineering?

Prompt Engineering is the process of crafting well-defined Prompts to achieve desired outcomes from AI models. It may require understanding the capability and limitations of models to tailor the Prompts. We have some tips to excel in Prompt Engineering:

  • Keep Prompts clear, concise, and unambiguous.
  • Experiment with variations to find the one that yields the best results when needed.
  • Fine-tune the AI models to adapt desired output and behavior.
  • Understand the training data.
  • Incorporate context into your Prompts to guide the model responses.

Check out Picovoice Consulting Services if you need expertise or tools for rapid success. Our AI experts give enterprises a head start whether they have a team of machine learning experts or are just getting started.

Consult an Expert