Advanced Prompting Topics

"The universe doesn’t allow perfection." Stephen Hawking (A Brief History of Time, 1988)

Appendix: Advanced Prompting Topics

This crash course has provided you with a solid foundation in AI prompting. As you become more comfortable, you might want to explore more advanced techniques and patterns to further enhance your interactions with AI. This appendix lists some of these topics for your future learning, showing how they build upon the core principles you've already mastered.

Building on First Principles Thinking (Crafting Your Prompt)

• Audience Persona: This technique involves instructing the AI to tailor its output for a specific intended audience. It's a direct application of defining the 'Persona' component in First Principles, ensuring the AI's response is perfectly suited for the intended reader or listener. Reference: Master the Audience Persona Pattern in AI Prompt Engineering - YouTube
• Template: This technique involves creating reusable prompt structures with placeholders. It directly supports the 'Format' component of First Principles, ensuring consistency in the AI's output and saving time for repetitive tasks. Reference: Prompt Engineering Guide - Template Pattern
• Meta Language Creation: This technique involves defining a custom vocabulary or set of symbols for the AI. It enhances the 'Context' and 'Constraints/Rules' of First Principles by creating a precise, unambiguous language for specific interactions. Reference: Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT - Coursera
• Semantic Filter: This technique allows you to control the AI's output by instructing it to include or exclude information based on its meaning. It's a powerful way to enforce 'Constraints/Rules' from First Principles, ensuring the AI's response adheres to specific content guidelines. Reference: Prompt Engineering: The Semantic Filter Pattern - Debabrata Pruseth
• Tail Generation: This technique involves providing a partial input and instructing the AI to complete it. It's a specific application of defining a clear 'Goal' and 'Format' within First Principles, guiding the AI to generate a coherent continuation. Reference: Tail Generation Prompt Pattern - YouTube
• Few-Shot Prompting: This technique involves providing the AI with a small number of examples directly within your prompt. It's a highly effective way to define the 'Format' and 'Style' components of First Principles, showing the AI exactly what kind of output you expect. Reference: Few-shot Prompting - IBM

Building on Chain of Thought Prompting (Guiding AI's Reasoning)

• Cognitive Verifier: This technique instructs the AI to generate additional questions or steps to verify its own reasoning. It extends Chain of Thought by adding a self-correction mechanism, making the AI's step-by-step process more robust and reliable. Reference: Vanderbilt University's Generative AI resources
• Recipe: Similar to a cooking recipe, this technique provides the AI with a structured, step-by-step guide for complex outputs. It's a detailed application of Chain of Thought, breaking down a task into explicit instructions and 'ingredients' (context) to ensure precise execution. Reference: Prompt Recipes - A Framework for Reusable AI Prompts - Prompt Engineering Org
• Outline Expansion: This technique allows you to take a high-level outline and have the AI iteratively expand on each point. It's a practical application of Chain of Thought, guiding the AI through a structured content generation process from a simple starting point. Reference: Prompt Engineering via Prompt Patterns — Outline Expander Pattern - Medium
• Tree of Thought: This advanced technique allows the AI to explore multiple reasoning paths simultaneously. It builds upon Chain of Thought by enabling the AI to branch out and evaluate several potential intermediate steps before arriving at a solution, ideal for complex problems with uncertainty. Reference: Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Models - arXiv

Building on Meta-Prompting (AI Helping You Prompt Better)

• Flipped Interaction: This technique reverses the typical user-AI dynamic, where you instruct the AI to ask you questions. It's a direct application of Meta-Prompting, as the AI helps you clarify your own needs and formulate better prompts by guiding the information-gathering process. Reference: Chat Prompts: Understanding the Flipped Interaction Pattern - Curam Ai
• Prompt Generator: This technique involves using an AI to help you create better prompts. It's a prime example of Meta-Prompting in action, where the AI assists you in refining your initial ideas into detailed, optimized prompts. Reference: What is a Prompt Generator? - Voiceflow

Hybrid & Specialized Patterns

• Game Play: This technique involves framing your interaction with the AI as a game. It combines elements of First Principles (defining rules), Chain of Thought (sequential turns), and Meta-Prompting (AI as game master guiding the interaction), making it useful for interactive learning or simulations. Reference: The Game Play Pattern in Prompt Engineering - Medium
• Menu Actions: This technique presents the AI with a predefined set of actionable options. It relates to First Principles by defining clear 'Constraints/Rules' and 'Format' for interaction, and can be used within a Chain of Thought to guide multi-step processes. Reference: Menu Actions Pattern: Prompt Engineering - Medium
• Playoff Method: This technique asks the AI to generate multiple competing ideas and then iteratively select the best. It combines creative generation (related to First Principles brainstorming) with a structured evaluation process (similar to Chain of Thought) to optimize decision-making. Reference: The Playoff Method - God of Prompt

Directly Related to Results Verification (Chapter 5)

• Fact Check List: This technique instructs the AI to extract and list fundamental facts from its output for verification. It directly supports the 'SENSE' check from Chapter 5, providing a structured way to ensure the reliability of AI-generated content. Reference: Fact Check List Prompt Pattern - YouTube