Prompt engineering is the practice of designing inputs for AI tools that will produce optimal outputs.
Let’s say you’re making spaghetti marinara for dinner. Sauce from a jar is perfectly fine. But what if you buy your tomatoes and basil from the farmers market to make your own sauce? Chances are it will taste a lot better. And what if you grow your own ingredients in your garden and make your own fresh pasta? A whole new level of savory deliciousness.
Just as better ingredients can make for a better dinner, better inputs into a generative AI (gen AI) model can make for better results. These inputs are called prompts, and the practice of writing them is called prompt engineering. Skilled prompt engineers design inputs that interact optimally with other inputs in a gen AI tool. These inputs help elicit better answers from the AI model, meaning the model can perform its tasks better, such as writing marketing emails, generating code, analyzing and synthesizing text, engaging with customers via chatbots, creating digital art, composing music, or any of the other hundreds, if not thousands, of current applications.
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