Best Prompt Engineering Tips for Beginners in 2023

What is Prompt Engineering?

Artificial intelligence, particularly natural language processing, has a notion called prompt engineering (NLP). In prompt engineering, the job description is included explicitly in the input, such as a question, instead of being provided implicitly. Typically, prompt engineering involves transforming one or more tasks into a prompt-based dataset and “prompt-based learning”—also known as “prompt learning”—to train a language model. Prompt engineering, also known as “prefix-tuning” or “prompt tuning,” is a method wherein a big, “frozen” pretrained language model is used, and just the prompt’s representation is learned.

Developing the ChatGPT Tool, GPT-2, and GPT-3 language models was crucial for prompt engineering. Multitask prompt engineering in 2021 has shown strong performance on novel tasks utilizing several NLP datasets. Few-shot learning examples prompt with a thought chain provide a stronger representation of language model thinking. Prepaying text to a zero-shot learning prompt that supports a chain of reasoning, such as “Let’s think step by step,” may enhance a language model’s performance in multi-step reasoning tasks. The release of various open-source notebooks and community-led image synthesis efforts helped make these tools widely accessible.

In February 2022, there were about 2,000 public prompts for around 170 datasets, according to a handling prompts description.

Machine learning models such as DALL-E 2, Stable Diffusion, and Midjourney were made available to the general public in 2022. These models employ word prompts as their input to create pictures, creating a new category of prompt engineering known as text-to-image prompting.

The Importance of Prompt Engineering

As the 21st century advances, prompt engineering, a novel idea in chat systems and language models, has grown in significance.

To develop an efficient and outcome-aligned prompt, prompt engineering requires a critical, in-depth evaluation of each of the abovementioned suggestions. Making sure that the relevant context is considered and that the language model is given a clear mission to fulfill are the keys to creating the finest prompts. To be more precise, the context should be considered while making the prompt, the job specification should be clear, simple, and devoid of ambiguity, and an iterative technique should be used to ensure continual improvement in the language model’s output.

Considering the context and ensuring the job is clear and explicit are the keys to an effective prompt. You may improve and optimize your created material by employing an iterative method to get the desired outcomes.

Getting started with prompt engineering might be difficult if you are a newbie. Here are some of the greatest suggestions for improving your prompts; use them to raise the bar for your prompts.

1. Use the latest model

Always utilize the most recent, powerful models for the greatest results. As of November 2022, the “text-DaVinci-003” model and the “code-DaVinci-002” model are the best for text and code creation, respectively.

2. Understand the importance of “context.”

Context is the most crucial consideration when creating a prompt. For ChatGPT to respond clearly and correctly, it is essential to ensure that the context is relevant.

ChatGPT may produce replies that are off-topic, irrelevant, or incongruent with the purpose of the prompt if the context needs to be revised. Include any pertinent background data to make sure the question has enough context.

3. Define a clear task

Defining a specific job for ChatGPT is the next stage in creating a successful prompt after giving context. This necessitates that you comprehend the work, and the task description should be precise, short, and devoid of ambiguity or vagueness.

The job should also be compatible with ChatGPT’s or the model’s capabilities. Giving your language model the duty of writing an essay would be pointless, for instance, if it can only produce code.

4. Be specific

The second helpful hint is to ensure the prompt is particular when creating it. The more the prompt’s clarity and specificity, the more probable the ChatGPT will provide a focused and precise response. Important specifics like the objective, the beginning and finish locations, the persons involved, or other pertinent background information should be provided to do this. Too broad of a request may invite irrelevant, inconsistent, or off-topic comments.

5. Iterate

Creating an effective prompt may be done via iteration. Iterative design, testing, and evaluation cycles are often part of the prompt design process. Every repetition provides a chance to hone or enhance the prompt. For instance, you may modify the prompt to provide more detailed instructions or context if the ChatGPT produces an off-topic answer.

Additionally, the created material may be continuously improved and optimized using an iterative technique.

6. Combining all prompt engineering factors

Prompt engineering is most successful and efficient when combining all components of the latest model, context, task description, specificity, and iterations. The task description outlines the prompt’s objective. The task’s main topic is provided through context. Accuracy and relevance are improved by clearly stating the necessary components and information in the prompt. By enhancing the prompt via design, testing, and assessment, iterations allow continual development and optimization of the produced content.

They consider the outcomes of the earlier tests, enabling the prompt to change and providing more specific instructions or background information. In the end, using all four variables allows the prompt to provide correct and pertinent information.

Reddit users have started jailbreaking the ChatGPT using a prompt called DAN (Do Anything Now) as it grows increasingly restricted. 

They are now utilizing version 5.0, a token-based mechanism that penalizes the model for refusing to provide information.

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