4 Methods of Prompt Engineering

IBM Technology
22 Jan 202412:41

TLDRThis video explores prompt engineering techniques for effectively communicating with large language models. It discusses four methods: Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), which enhances model responses with domain-specific knowledge; Chain-of-Thought (COT), a step-by-step reasoning approach; ReAct, which combines reasoning with action to gather information from external sources; and Directional Stimulus Prompting (DSP), guiding the model to provide specific details. The conversation highlights practical applications and the importance of avoiding 'hallucinations' or false results.

Takeaways

  • 🔍 Prompt Engineering is essential for effectively communicating with large language models to get accurate responses.
  • 🧠 Large language models are trained on internet data and can sometimes produce 'hallucinations' or false results due to conflicting information.
  • 📚 The first approach discussed is RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation), which enhances model responses by incorporating domain-specific knowledge bases.
  • 💡 RAG works by combining a retrieval component that fetches domain-specific context with the generative capabilities of the language model.
  • 💼 An example of RAG in action is querying financial data for a company, where the model retrieves accurate figures from a trusted knowledge base.
  • 🤖 COT (Chain-of-Thought) is a method that breaks down complex questions into simpler steps, guiding the model to a more reasoned and explainable answer.
  • 📈 In COT, the model is prompted to think through the problem-solving process, providing a step-by-step explanation before giving a final answer.
  • 🔎 ReAct is a few-shot prompting technique that not only reasons through a problem but also takes action by accessing external resources when necessary.
  • 🌐 ReAct differs from RAG in that it can retrieve information from both private and public knowledge bases to answer queries that require additional data.
  • 📊 Directional Stimulus Prompting (DSP) is a technique that guides the model to provide specific information by giving hints about the desired details.
  • 🛠️ Techniques like RAG, COT, ReAct, and DSP can be combined to refine and enhance the performance of large language models in providing accurate and detailed responses.

Q & A

  • What is prompt engineering in the context of large language models?

    -Prompt engineering is the process of designing and coming up with the proper questions to get the desired responses from large language models, avoiding false results or 'hallucinations'.

  • Why is it important to avoid hallucinations when using large language models?

    -Hallucinations refer to false results generated by large language models due to conflicting or inaccurate data from their training on the internet. Avoiding them ensures reliable and accurate responses.

  • What is the first approach to prompt engineering discussed in the transcript?

    -The first approach discussed is RAG, or Retrieval Augmented Generation, which involves bringing domain-specific knowledge to the model to enhance its responses.

  • How does the RAG method work behind the scenes?

    -RAG works by combining a retrieval component that brings context from a domain knowledge base with the generative capabilities of a large language model, allowing it to respond with domain-specific accuracy.

  • Can you provide an example of how RAG is applied in an industry?

    -In the financial industry, RAG can be used to accurately determine a company's annual earnings by referring to a domain-specific knowledge base rather than relying solely on potentially inaccurate internet data.

  • What is the Chain-of-Thought (COT) approach in prompt engineering?

    -COT is a method where complex tasks are broken down into smaller sections. The model is guided through these sections to reason and provide a more accurate and explainable response.

  • How does the ReAct approach differ from Chain-of-Thought?

    -While COT focuses on reasoning through steps, ReAct goes further by taking action based on additional information gathered from external sources when the knowledge base does not have the required data.

  • What is the main difference between RAG and ReAct in terms of using knowledge bases?

    -RAG focuses on content grounding by making the model aware of domain content, whereas ReAct can access both private and public knowledge bases to gather information and provide a comprehensive response.

  • Can you explain the ReAct process in a financial earnings example?

    -ReAct would involve the model retrieving earnings data for one year from a private knowledge base and for another year from a public knowledge base, then combining this data to provide a comparative analysis.

  • What is Directional Stimulus Prompting (DSP) and how does it work?

    -DSP is a technique where specific hints are provided to guide the large language model to extract and focus on particular details within a task, such as specific earnings figures for different business segments.

  • How can these prompt engineering techniques be combined for better results?

    -Techniques like RAG, COT, ReAct, and DSP can be combined strategically. For instance, starting with RAG for domain focus, then using COT or ReAct for detailed reasoning and action, and DSP for specific information extraction.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Introduction to Prompt Engineering and RAG

The paragraph introduces the concept of prompt engineering, which is crucial for effectively communicating with large language models to avoid false results or 'hallucinations.' It explains that prompt engineering involves crafting the right questions to elicit desired responses from language models. The discussion then shifts to the first approach, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), which involves incorporating domain-specific knowledge into the model to enhance its responses. The example of financial information retrieval from a company's knowledge base is used to illustrate how RAG can provide accurate answers by combining a retrieval component with the language model's generation capabilities.

05:05

🤖 Exploring Chain-of-Thought and ReAct Techniques

This section delves into the Chain-of-Thought (COT) and ReAct prompting techniques. COT involves breaking down complex tasks into simpler steps and combining their results to form a comprehensive answer. It's likened to explaining a concept as if to an 8-year-old, emphasizing clarity and reasoning. ReAct, on the other hand, is distinguished by its ability to not only reason through steps but also to take action by accessing external resources when necessary. The example of a financial earnings query that requires data from both private and public databases is used to demonstrate how ReAct can gather information from various sources to provide a complete response.

10:05

📊 Directional Stimulus Prompting and Combining Techniques

The final paragraph introduces Directional Stimulus Prompting (DSP), a method that guides the language model to provide specific information by giving it a 'hint' about the desired details. It's compared to a game where hints are given to achieve a particular outcome. The conversation concludes with advice on how to combine different prompt engineering techniques for optimal results, suggesting that RAG should be the starting point to focus on domain content, and then COT, ReAct, or DSP can be added as needed to refine the model's responses.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Prompt Engineering

Prompt engineering refers to the skill of crafting effective prompts to guide large language models to provide accurate and relevant responses. In the context of the video, it is crucial for avoiding 'hallucinations' or false results from the model. The video emphasizes the importance of prompt engineering in communicating with AI, ensuring that the questions are designed to elicit the desired information.

💡Large Language Models

Large language models are advanced AI systems trained on vast amounts of internet data, capable of understanding and generating human-like text. The video discusses how these models can be utilized for tasks like chatbots, summarization, and information retrieval, but they require proper prompting to function optimally.

💡Hallucinations

In the AI context, 'hallucinations' refer to the incorrect or false information that a language model might generate when it doesn't have access to the correct data. The video script uses this term to highlight the risk of relying on internet-trained models without domain-specific knowledge.

💡Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)

RAG is a technique where domain-specific knowledge is combined with a large language model to enhance its responses. The video explains that by incorporating a retrieval component, the model can access a knowledge base to provide more accurate and relevant answers to queries.

💡Domain Knowledge Base

A domain knowledge base is a collection of information specific to a particular industry or company. The video uses the example of financial information to illustrate how a knowledge base can be used with RAG to ensure the language model provides accurate data, such as a company's annual earnings.

💡Chain-of-Thought (COT)

COT is a prompting technique that involves breaking down a complex question into simpler steps and guiding the language model through these steps to arrive at an answer. The video likens this to explaining something to an 8-year-old, suggesting that it helps the model reason through the problem more effectively.

💡ReAct

ReAct is a few-shot prompting technique that goes beyond reasoning to also include actions based on the information needed to answer a question. Unlike COT, which focuses on reasoning steps, ReAct allows the model to access external resources to gather necessary data, as illustrated in the video with the example of comparing a company's earnings from different years.

💡Directional Stimulus Prompting (DSP)

DSP is a method of prompting where the user provides specific hints or directions to guide the language model to focus on particular aspects of the data. The video suggests that this technique is useful for obtaining detailed information about specific categories within a larger dataset, such as distinguishing earnings figures for software and consulting services.

💡Content Grounding

Content grounding is the process of making a large language model aware of specific domain content to improve the accuracy of its responses. The video mentions this in relation to RAG, where the model is grounded in a company's knowledge base to ensure the information it provides is relevant and accurate.

💡Few-shot Prompting

Few-shot prompting is a technique where the model is provided with a few examples to guide its responses. The video discusses how COT and ReAct both use this method, but they differ in their approach—COT focuses on reasoning steps, while ReAct includes actions to gather additional information.

Highlights

Prompt engineering is vital for communicating effectively with large language models.

Prompt engineering involves designing proper questions to avoid false results from language models.

Large language models are trained on Internet data which may contain conflicting information.

RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) is the first approach discussed for prompt engineering.

RAG involves adding domain-specific knowledge to the model to improve responses.

The retrieval component in RAG brings domain knowledge context to the language model.

An example of RAG is using a company's financial database to answer queries about earnings.

COT (Chain-of-Thought) is a method of breaking down a task into multiple sections for better responses.

COT helps in reasoning through steps to arrive at a response, improving explainability.

ReAct is a few-shot prompting technique that goes beyond reasoning to include action.

ReAct allows the model to gather information from external sources when necessary.

The difference between RAG and ReAct is that ReAct can access public resources for additional data.

An example of ReAct is comparing a company's earnings from different years using both private and public data.

Directional Stimulus Prompting (DSP) is introduced as a way to guide models to provide specific information.

DSP works by giving hints to the model to extract particular values from a task.

Combining RAG, COT, ReAct, and DSP can lead to a cumulative effect in improving prompt engineering.

The video concludes with a recommendation to start with RAG and explore combinations with other techniques.