USMA Library Homepage: Generative Artificial Intelligence: Prompting

Generative AI prompting is a skill that can be taught through various frameworks. While there is lots of advice about prompting and prompt engineering floating around the internet, Ethan Mollick (Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania) gives some sound advice:

The best way to use AI systems is not to craft the perfect prompt, but rather to use it interactively. Try asking for something. Then ask the AI to modify or adjust its output. Work with the AI, rather than trying to issue a single command that does everything you want. The more you experiment, the better off you are. Just use the AI a lot, and it will make a big difference - a lesson my class learned as they worked with the AI to create essays (Mollick, 2023) .

Mollick, E. (April 16, 2023). A guide to prompting AI (for what it is worth). Retrieved May 24, 2024 from https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/a-guide-to-prompting-ai-for-what

The CLEAR path: A framework for enhancing information literacy through prompt engineering

Concise: brevity and clarity in prompts
Logical: structured and coherent prompts
Explicit: clear output specifications
Adaptive: flexibility and customization in prompts
Reflective: continuous evaluation and improvement of prompts

The CLEAR framework is not a prompt formula, but rather a way to evaluate your prompts to determine if you can reword it to get closer to the results you want.

COSTAR method of prompt engineering

Context: Providing background information helps the LLM understand the specific scenario.
Objective: Clearly defining the task directs the LLM’s focus.
Style: Specifying the desired writing style aligns the LLM response.
Tone: Setting the tone ensures the response resonates with the required sentiment.
Audience: Identifying the intended audience tailors the LLM’s response to be targeted to an audience.
Response: Providing the response format, like text or json, ensures the LLM outputs, and help build pipelines.

The COSTAR method is one of many kinds of prompt formulas. Prompt formulas give you specific directions on how to create a prompt.

The University of Michigan - Flint has created a Generative AI Prompt Literacy Canvas course that anyone can take for free.

Dr Leo S Lo's course The Art of ChatGPT Interactions is an interactive tutorial using the CLEAR framework for developing ChatGPT prompt skills (approximately 2 hours, free)