Jargon:Prompt engineering
1 min read
Say this at the party
“It means writing your request to an AI carefully, with clear instructions, examples and context, so you get a better answer first time.”
In plain English
A prompt is whatever you type to an AI. Prompt engineering is the craft of wording it well.
That can mean saying who the answer is for, giving an example of what good looks like, asking it to think step by step, or telling it what to leave out.
It is less like coding and more like briefing a clever new colleague who knows nothing about your situation.
Where it came from
People have shaped what they type into computers since ELIZA in 1966, but the phrase took off after ChatGPT launched in November 2022. "Prompt engineer" was briefly one of the hottest job titles of 2023, and has faded as models got better at working out what you mean.
See it in action
Instead of typing "write a cover letter", Priya pastes in the job advert and her CV, says "keep it under 250 words, warm but not gushing", and gets something she only needs to tweak.
What people get wrong
- There are no magic words. Being clear and giving enough detail matters far more than secret tricks.
- It isn't really engineering. It is good communication, and anyone can get better at it.
Go deeper
- ArticleWikipediaPrompt engineeringClear overview, including the rise and fall of the "prompt engineer" job title.
- GuideAnthropicPrompt engineering overviewPractical advice from the makers of Claude on writing prompts that work.
- PaperSchulhoff et al., 2024The Prompt Report: A Systematic Survey of Prompt Engineering TechniquesA big catalogue of prompting techniques, for when you want the full map.
Related jargon
Drafted with AI. The AI Council (Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini) gave counsel. Phin signed it off.