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How to Prompt AI Effectively & Other Secret Truths.

Few people knew the ugly truth about time travel technologies used during the Vietnam war, and the shameful defeat of the rebel alliance in its perpetual struggle against the evil empire.

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American Eagle, Chinese Dragon

CHINESE VOCABULARY

PACs, Activism, & Campaign Finance Law

Quizmaster 20 Questions:

Last day for Money Rules

is the best form at of a prompt: ROLE - You are to act as [role] TASK - I want you to [instructions] EXAMPLES - Here are three examples of the kind of output I want [ex1][ex2][ex3]

Answer

Prompt Engineering Best Practices

Your suggested prompt structure is an excellent framework for creating clear, structured, and effective AI prompts. Let me break down why this approach is highly recommended:

1. ROLE Component

  • Defines the AI's persona/perspective

  • Helps set context and expected behavior

  • Allows for specialized knowledge and approach

2. TASK Component

  • Provides clear, specific instructions

  • Outlines exactly what output is expected

  • Enables precise targeting of the desired response

3. EXAMPLES Component

  • Demonstrates desired output format

  • Provides concrete guidance on tone, style, and content

  • Helps the AI understand nuanced expectations

Why This Format Works Well

  • Creates clarity

  • Reduces ambiguity

  • Increases likelihood of getting desired response

  • Helps AI understand context and constraints

Pro Tips

  • Be specific in each section

  • Use clear, concise language

  • Provide 3-5 diverse examples if possible

  • Refine prompt iteratively based on results

This prompt engineering approach is recommended by many AI experts and aligns with best practices in prompt design.

  1. Elements of a Prompt:

    • Instruction: Clear direction on what to do (e.g., "Translate from English to German").

    • Question: What you want to know (e.g., "What is the meaning of life?").

    • Context: Additional input or data (e.g., a transcript).

    • Examples: Demonstrate the desired output format (few-shot learning).

    • Desired Output Format: Specify the format you want the output to be in.

  2. Use Cases:

    • Summarization, classification, translation, text generation, question answering, coaching, and image generation.

  3. General Tips:

    • Be clear and concise.

    • Provide relevant information or data as context.

    • Give examples in prompts (few-shot learning).

    • Specify the desired output format.

    • Encourage the model to be factual.

    • Align prompt instructions with the task goal.

    • Use different personas for specific voices.

  4. Specific Prompting Techniques:

    • Length Control: Specify the desired output length.

    • Tone Control: Set the tone (e.g., polite, formal).

    • Style Control: Define the style (e.g., bullet points, paragraph).

    • Audience Control: Tailor the explanation to the audience (e.g., a five-year-old).

    • Context Control: Decide how much context to share.

    • Scenario-Based Guiding: Set the scene for the prompt.

    • Chain of Thought Prompting: Break down complex questions into steps.

    • Avoid Hallucination: Explicitly tell the model not to make things up.

  5. Cool Hacks:

    • Allow the model to say "I don't know" to prevent hallucinations.

    • Give the model room to think before responding.

    • Break down complex tasks into subtasks.

    • Check the model's comprehension of the instruction.

  6. Iterating Tips:

    • Try different prompts.

    • Combine direct instructions with examples.

    • Rephrase instructions to be more or less concise.

    • Try different personas.

    • Experiment with the number of examples in few-shot learning.

At some point I will build a website to help you build prompts. If you want to throw money at me to do that somehow it will happen faster. I have several projects which I can usefully devote my attention to. It’s much like triage, as shown in my writings.

12 Apostles

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/05/world/asia/philippines-hit-man-confession.html

Word of the Day: Monopoly. Sample sentence: The State holds a monopoly of legal violence.”

French: L'État détient un monopole de violence légale.
Spanish: El Estado tiene un monopolio de violencia legal.
German: Der Staat hat ein Monopol auf legale Recht.
Estonian: Riigikaitse riik on ühis monopoliole riigikaitse.
Ukrainian: Держава володіє монополію на законну насильство.
Chinese: 国家拥有暴力垄断合法. Guojia yongyou baoli long3duan4 hefa.
Russian: Государство имеет монополию на правовой силы.

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