AI Lecture Series: Prompt Engineering 101

February 2, 2024 

We kicked off our first ever AI Lecture Series in January with Prompt Engineering 101, the seven essential steps to prompting AI! The event covered a brief history of Artificial Intelligence, the best way to give a detailed prompt to AI softwares, and a workshop where attendees could try it out themselves. We used the 7 steps to craft a prompt in Chat GPT for this blogpost, see what it came up with below!

  • AI Evolution Overview: In “Prompt Engineering 101,” Brad Hajart highlighted AI’s journey from its conceptual roots in 380 BC to the recent explosion of large language models like GPT, making AI more accessible in today’s business landscape.
  • Narrow AI vs. General AI: Brad clarified the distinction between Narrow AI, which excels in specific tasks, and the elusive General AI, stressing how Narrow AI tools are currently reshaping industries and enhancing productivity.
  • Practical AI Applications: The webinar explored diverse AI applications, from content creation to image generation, automated resume screening, and contract analysis, showcasing how these tools augment human capabilities without replacing roles.
  • Introduction to GPT Technology: Brad introduced GPT technology, emphasizing its role in AI interactions by helping the system guess the next word in a response, facilitating generative content creation at scale.
  • Seven Steps to Effective Prompting: The core focus was on the seven critical steps for prompting AI. For more on this, please see the YouTube Video Recap.
    • Covering defining the role
    • Identifying purpose
    • Being specific
    • Providing context
    • Setting tone and style
    • Clarifying structure
    • Refining the prompt.
  • Crafting an Effective Prompt: Using the fictional example of National Art Material Enterprises, Brad demonstrated how to craft a prompt effectively, from defining the role of an inbound marketer to specifying the purpose of creating a marketing email for a new product launch.
  • Refining Output for Optimal Results: The webinar concluded with a reminder to read, re-read, and refine prompts, emphasizing the need to eliminate duplications, contradictions, and ensure clarity for optimal AI-generated content results. One of our favorite pieces was prompting Chat GPT to rewrite it’s answer as a Black Keys song, try it for yourself!

Luckily for those who missed the webinar, the video is available on YouTube! For more Apt CoWork events and future AI Lecture sessions, please see our Events Page.