Introduction to Prompt Engineering

Prompt engineering is an essential skill in the digital age, especially for students looking to leverage the potential of AI to augment their learning. But what exactly is prompt engineering and why should you care about it?

Prompt engineering is the art and science of formulating queries or instructions in a way that maximizes the usefulness of AI responses. A well-crafted prompt can transform a simple interaction with an AI like ChatGPT into a dynamic and enriching learning experience.

Imagine, you're an electrical engineering student studying for an exam on circuit analysis. You could ask ChatGPT, "What is Ohm's Law?" and receive a basic definition. But with effective prompt engineering, you could ask, "Explain Ohm's Law as if you were a fellow electrical engineering student," or "Break down the concepts behind Ohm's Law into simpler components," guiding the AI to provide responses that fit your educational needs more accurately.

What about when you're tackling a complex problem? Prompt engineering can help there too. You can ask the AI to break down the problem into smaller, manageable pieces and explain each one. It can teach you every step of a process so you can digest the information more clearly before completing the whole problem.

Furthermore, prompt engineering allows you to solicit multiple perspectives on a single topic. For a subject like circuit design, which often involves trade-offs between different design principles, this can be especially helpful. You could prompt the AI to explain a concept from the perspective of a cost-conscious designer, an efficiency-focused engineer, or an innovator pushing the boundaries of conventional design principles.

In summary, understanding prompt engineering as a student is about more than just getting the answers you want from an AI. It's about learning how to ask the right questions in the right way to facilitate your understanding, break down complex problems, and gain varied perspectives on your studies.

In the coming sections, we'll explore in more depth the strategies and considerations for crafting effective prompts, interpreting AI responses, and applying these skills in hands-on practice. 

The Power of Prompts

ChatGPT has a notoriously hard time solving simple story problems. The following examples are two different ways to ask ChatGPT to solve a story problem for you. The first is simply asking it to solve the problem. The second is a much more complex prompt, if you go to ChatGPT Links to an external site. and type in that prompt you'll see that it is able to use different perspectives to come to the correct answer.

Try this: