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Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI): Prompt Engineering 101

What is Prompt Engineering?

Prompt engineering is the process of creating and refining content input into a GenAI model to generate remixed or new content. It understands natural language to write out commands and questions as if you were using Google or other search engines. 

Best Practices, Tips, & Tricks

  1. Be as specific as possible! Use descriptions, examples, and details about the preferred context, length, outcome, format, style, etc.
Write a short inspiring poem about OpenAI, focusing on the recent DALL-E product launch (DALL-E is a text to image ML model) in the style of a E.E. Cummings.

 

  1. Use instructions at the beginning of your prompt.
Summarize the following text as a bullet point list of the most important points: {text input here}

 

  1. Do not say what not to do, but instead indicate what you want the GPT to do. 
Summarize the following text in 2-3 concise sentences. Instead of summarizing the entire article, please only summarize the results and discussion sections.

Ethics and Saftey Reminder:

  • Never import or use sensitive, identifying, or confidential information. For example: social security numbers, bank accounts, or other personal information.

  • Use GenAI if permitted, but do not blindly trust technology. An AI answer can be very convincing but may be incorrect or even untrue.

  • GenAI builds on the work of others. This leaves you vulnerable to plagiarism or copyright infringements. Always cite your work, and when in doubt, try to find the source information elsewhere.

  • Be on the lookout for information that reflects prejudice. Look to avoid problematic information, prejudicial stereotypes, or clear bias.

  • Do not humanize GenAI, AI is not a human and should be referred to as a thing and not assigned pronouns.   

  • Do not attempt to generate hateful, harmful, or violent content. There are safety guardrails in place that can result in serious repercussions.