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Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

lilianweng.github.io

21–30 of 53 posts

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#22

I wonder if "prompt engineering" will be replaced by improvements to LLMs within the next couple years and this is just a bad DX step gap along the journey

Prompt engineering is really more like the art of exploring the emergent behavior of the LLMs. Unlike traditional software that has known features and capabilities. We build a model and then we literally don't know what it does until we explore it.

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#23

I wonder if "prompt engineering" will be replaced by improvements to LLMs within the next couple years and this is just a bad DX step gap along the journey

I wrote a response to this argument here: https://simonwillison.net/2023/Feb/21/in-defense-of-prompt-e...

Short version: I think prompt engineering will be an important skill for a very long time. Using these systems to the maximum of their (currently unknown) potential will always involve expert knowledge!

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#24
post #21

Was this article written by an AI? Oh wait, I guess it definitely wasn't because an AI wouldn't have made so many glaring grammatical errors lol.

Man you would be surprised if you saw the amount of errors I have already found using ChatGPT regarding grammar

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#25

I wonder if "prompt engineering" will be replaced by improvements to LLMs within the next couple years and this is just a bad DX step gap along the journey

Prompt “engineering” currently reeks of the A in STEAM

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#26
post #18

I wonder how long it will take before people start to use LLMs to generate prompts...

I’ve done this before. “How would you prompt an LLM to do…” “Take the following prompt and ask clarifying questions…” “Rephrase this prompt to be clear, concise and achievable…” I’ve had mixed results. But sometimes it is illuminating to see it clarify things I may have omitted.

[deleted]

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#27
No amount of prompt engineering or related can fix the inability of LLMs to follow lexical, phonetic, or semantic constraints.

You need "filter assisted decoding" as introduced here: https://paperswithcode.com/paper/most-language-models-can-be...

I can't believe that this technique is not being built into everything. ChatGPT can't write a paragraph of correct English without using the letter "e" no matter how hard you prompt it. But if you simply filter all vocab tokens with the letter "e" in them out of the vocabulary, suddenly these LLMs perfectly follow the given constraints...

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#28
post #12

Lilian Weng's blog is my go-to example for an extremely high quality tech blog, it's truly remarkable how consistently excellent each post is. The only downside is the sadness I feel for being incapable of producing content even remotely near that level of quality myself.

Have you tried using content from this blog in prompts to chat GPT wheel you produce the content yourself?

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#29

No amount of prompt engineering or related can fix the inability of LLMs to follow lexical, phonetic, or semantic constraints. You need "filter assisted decoding" as introduced here: https://paperswithcode.com/paper/most-language-models-can-be... I can't believe that this technique is not being built into everything. ChatGPT can't write a paragraph of correct English without using the letter "e" no matter how hard yo…

> Somebody on HN wrote that “ChatGPT can't write a paragraph of correct English without using the letter "e" no matter how hard you prompt it”.

> Prove them wrong.

> A vivid, bright sky with a warm sun radiating down cast a tranquil ambiance upon all. Amidst such calm, jovial animals frolic, and fragrant flora bloom, bringing forth a vivid symphony of colors. In this oasis of harmony, humans laugh and bond, crafting blissful unions that withstand tumultuous trials. A world without discord, full of unity and optimism, is what our aspirations should aim for.

Re: Prompt Engineering: Steer a large pretrained language model to do what you want

#30

No amount of prompt engineering or related can fix the inability of LLMs to follow lexical, phonetic, or semantic constraints. You need "filter assisted decoding" as introduced here: https://paperswithcode.com/paper/most-language-models-can-be... I can't believe that this technique is not being built into everything. ChatGPT can't write a paragraph of correct English without using the letter "e" no matter how hard yo…

> Somebody on HN wrote that “ChatGPT can't write a paragraph of correct English without using the letter "e" no matter how hard you prompt it”. > Prove them wrong. > A vivid, bright sky with a warm sun radiating down cast a tranquil ambiance upon all. Amidst such calm, jovial animals frolic, and fragrant flora bloom, bringing forth a vivid symphony of colors. In this oasis of harmony, humans laugh and bond, crafting…

> ambiance

Lots of other options for a word there, "air" would've worked fine... aura, mood, spirit...

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