AI Terminology Course
AI Terminology
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Beginner

Prompt

Definition

The specific text or instructions provided by a human user to an AI model to elicit a desired response or action.

Explain Like I'm New

The question or command you type into the chat box. If you type 'Write a poem', that is your prompt.

Real World Example

Typing 'Summarize this 10-page PDF into 3 bullet points targeting a 5th-grade reading level' into ChatGPT.

Common Use Cases

  • •Interacting with GenAI
  • •Content generation

Interview Questions

basic

  • If an AI gives you a terrible answer, whose fault is it usually: the AI, or the Prompt?

intermediate

  • What is 'Prompt Engineering'?

Flash Cards

Question

Whose fault?

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Answer

Usually the Prompt. Vague prompts ('write code') yield generic, bad answers. Highly specific prompts yield highly accurate answers.

Question

What is Prompt Engineering?

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Answer

The emerging discipline of strategically structuring, phrasing, and formatting text inputs to force an LLM to produce the absolute highest-quality output possible.