Prompt Engineering 101 - Crash Course & Tips

AssemblyAI
24 Jun 202314:00

TLDRIn this video, Patrick from Assembly AI introduces viewers to the fundamentals of prompt engineering, essential for optimizing interactions with large language models. The tutorial covers the critical elements of a prompt, including instructions, questions, examples, and desired output formats. Patrick explores various use cases such as summarization, translation, and question answering, and offers practical tips and techniques to refine prompts. He also demonstrates creative hacks to enhance output quality and emphasizes the importance of iteration to achieve the best results. The video is a comprehensive guide for anyone looking to harness the full potential of language models.

Takeaways

  • 😀 Prompt engineering is crucial for optimizing interactions with large language models.
  • 🔍 The video offers a comprehensive guide on prompt engineering, including basic concepts and practical tips.
  • 📝 A well-crafted prompt can include elements like instructions, questions, examples, and desired output formats.
  • 💡 Clear and concise prompts with relevant context are more likely to yield accurate and useful responses.
  • 📚 Examples, or 'few-shot learning', can be effective in guiding the model to understand the expected output.
  • 🤖 Use cases for prompts range from summarization and classification to translation and question answering.
  • 🎯 Specific prompting techniques, such as controlling output length, tone, style, and audience, can refine results.
  • 💬 Chain of Thought prompting is a method to guide complex questions or tasks by breaking down the thought process.
  • 🚫 Avoiding 'hallucination' in model responses is key, achieved by encouraging factual and evidence-backed answers.
  • 🔄 Iterating on prompts through trial and error is an essential part of finding the most effective prompts for a given task.

Q & A

  • What is the main focus of the video by Patrick from Assembly AI?

    -The main focus of the video is to teach the basics of prompt engineering to get the best results when working with large language models.

  • What are the five elements of a prompt as mentioned in the video?

    -The five elements of a prompt are input or context, instructions, questions, examples, and a desired output format.

  • Why is it important to include at least one instruction or question in a prompt?

    -Including at least one instruction or question in a prompt is important to guide the model towards a specific output and to ensure that the model's response is relevant and directed.

  • What is the term used for providing a single example in a prompt?

    -Providing a single example in a prompt is referred to as One-Shot learning.

  • How can specifying the desired output format improve the results with prompts?

    -Specifying the desired output format can increase the chances of receiving the expected results by giving the model a clear direction on the structure and content of the response.

  • What is Chain of Thought prompting and how can it help with complex questions?

    -Chain of Thought prompting is a technique where the model is shown a step-by-step process to reach the correct answer to a question. It helps with complex questions by guiding the model through the logical steps required to solve the problem.

  • What are some common use cases for prompts with large language models?

    -Common use cases for prompts include summarization, classification, translation, text generation or completion, question answering, coaching, and in some cases, image generation.

  • How can providing examples in prompts, also known as few-shot learning, benefit the model's responses?

    -Providing examples in prompts, or few-shot learning, can benefit the model's responses by giving it a clearer understanding of the expected output format and style, which can improve the accuracy and relevance of its answers.

  • What is one technique mentioned in the video to prevent the model from hallucinating or making up information?

    -One technique to prevent the model from hallucinating is to encourage it to be factual by asking it to answer only using reliable sources or to explicitly state 'don't make anything up'.

  • What are some iterating tips provided in the video to improve prompt engineering?

    -Iterating tips include trying different prompts, combining examples with direct instructions, rephrasing instructions, trying different personas, and adjusting the number of examples provided in the prompt.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Prompt Engineering

Patrick from Assembly AI introduces the video's focus on prompt engineering for large language models. The video aims to provide a comprehensive guide on the basics of prompt engineering, including elements of a prompt, use cases, general tips, specific prompting techniques, and resources for further learning. Patrick emphasizes that this is not a list of the best prompts but rather a guide to help viewers understand and improve their prompt engineering skills.

05:02

🔍 Elements and Use Cases of Prompts

The video discusses the five elements of a prompt: input or context, instructions, questions, examples, and desired output format. Patrick explains that while not all elements are necessary, at least one instruction or question should be present for an effective prompt. Use cases for prompts are explored, including summarization, classification, translation, text generation, question answering, coaching, and image generation. The video aims to give viewers an understanding of the versatility and potential of prompts in various applications.

10:02

💡 Prompting Techniques and Tips

Patrick shares a list of guidelines to improve prompt effectiveness, such as being clear and concise, providing relevant context, using examples, and specifying the desired output format. He introduces specific prompting techniques like length control, tone control, style control, audience control, context control, scenario-based guiding, and Chain of Thought prompting. The video also covers techniques to avoid hallucination in model responses, such as instructing the model to only answer if it knows or to use relevant quotations from the text.

🛠️ Advanced Prompting Hacks and Iteration Tips

The video concludes with advanced prompting hacks and iteration tips. Patrick suggests allowing the model to 'think' by extracting quotes or breaking down complex tasks into sub-tasks. He also recommends checking the model's comprehension and trying different personas to achieve various styles. Iteration tips include trying different prompts, rephrasing instructions, and adjusting the number of examples provided. The video wraps up with a compilation of resources used and a reminder of Assembly AI's lemur best practices guide for those interested in applying LLMs to audio.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Prompt Engineering

Prompt Engineering refers to the art of crafting input prompts to elicit desired responses from large language models. In the context of the video, it is the process of structuring questions or instructions to guide AI models to provide accurate and relevant outputs. The video emphasizes the importance of clear and concise prompts to improve results when working with AI.

💡Large Language Models

Large Language Models, often abbreviated as LLMs, are advanced AI systems designed to understand and generate human-like text based on the input they receive. The video discusses how to effectively interact with these models through prompt engineering to achieve optimal outcomes.

💡Elements of a Prompt

The video outlines that a prompt can consist of five elements: input or context, instructions, questions, examples, and a desired output format. These elements are crucial for structuring effective prompts that guide the AI's response. The script provides examples of how to mix and match these elements for better AI interaction.

💡Use Cases

Use cases are practical applications or scenarios where a tool or technique can be applied. In the video, Patrick discusses various use cases for prompts with large language models, such as summarization, classification, translation, and question answering. These examples illustrate the versatility and potential of prompt engineering.

💡General Tips

General tips are broad guidelines provided in the video to improve the effectiveness of prompts. These include being clear and concise, providing relevant context, giving examples, and specifying the desired output format. These tips are meant to enhance the interaction with AI models and ensure that the prompts yield the intended results.

💡Specific Prompting Techniques

Specific prompting techniques are more targeted methods for controlling the AI's output. The video mentions techniques like length control, tone control, style control, audience control, and context control. These techniques help in tailoring the AI's responses to meet specific needs or preferences.

💡Chain of Thought Prompting

Chain of Thought Prompting is a technique highlighted in the video to help AI models solve complex problems. It involves providing a step-by-step logical process to guide the AI to the correct answer. This method is particularly useful for complex questions where a straightforward query might not yield accurate results.

💡Avoiding Hallucination

AI 'hallucination' refers to the model generating incorrect or nonsensical responses based on incorrect assumptions. The video suggests techniques to avoid this, such as explicitly instructing the model not to make things up and to use reliable sources to back up claims. This ensures the AI provides factual and accurate responses.

💡Iterating

Iterating in the context of prompt engineering means refining and adjusting prompts through a process of trial and error to achieve better results. The video suggests various iterating tips, such as trying different prompts, rephrasing instructions, and experimenting with different personas to find the most effective prompts.

💡Cool Hacks

Cool Hacks are innovative techniques or tricks mentioned in the video to improve the output of AI models. These include giving the model room to think by extracting quotes, breaking down complex tasks into subtasks, and checking the model's comprehension. These hacks are intended to enhance the AI's performance and the user's experience.

Highlights

Learn the basics of prompt engineering to optimize results with large language models.

A guide is provided to teach the fundamentals of prompt engineering.

The video covers elements of a prompt including input, instructions, questions, examples, and desired output format.

At least one instruction or question should be present in a good prompt.

Examples of prompts are given for tasks like summarization, classification, translation, and question answering.

Tips for creating effective prompts include being clear, concise, and providing relevant context.

Using examples in prompts, known as few-shot learning, can improve results.

Specifying the desired output format can help achieve the expected results.

Encourage factual responses and avoid 'hallucinations' by guiding the model with specific instructions.

Aligning prompt instructions with tasks can lead to more accurate outputs.

Using different personas in prompts can result in more specific voices or styles.

Length, tone, style, audience, and context controls are techniques to manage output.

Chain of Thought prompting is useful for complex questions, showing the process to reach the correct answer.

Avoid hallucination by instructing the model not to make things up.

Give the model 'room to think' by breaking down complex tasks into sub-tasks.

Iterating and trying different prompts is key to finding the best one for your needs.

The video concludes with a list of resources for further learning on prompt engineering.