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What a prompt is doing

16 min

The model continues text. Your prompt is the start of that text, plus any instructions the product wraps around it. If the start is vague, the continuation has many equally likely endings. You feel that as a generic answer.

Write the prompt so the next completion is forced into a narrow job. Name the task, the material, and the shape of a good answer. Leave out mood words that do not change the job.

What to include on purpose

  • The task, as a verb: extract, compare, draft, or refuse.
  • The material the task applies to.
  • The shape of a finished answer.

Watch Andrej Karpathy, "State of GPT." Use the opening and the prompting chapter. This lesson treats a prompt as a specification for the next completion, not as a spell.

Three boxes labeled Task, Material, and Shape
A prompt names the task, the material, and the shape of the answer.

Practice

Take a prompt you have used. Delete every adjective. Add the task verb, the material, and the shape. Run both and keep the one that is easier to check.