Instructions for the video lesson "Prompt Engineering: How to Frame Questions to Get Better Answers from AI?"

Instructions for the video lesson "Prompt Engineering: How to Frame Questions to Get Better Answers from Artificial Intelligence"

Duration: 6 minutes

This video lesson provides insight into the reasons for using AI in developing teaching materials. The goal is to encourage understanding of how AI can support adapting teaching to the different needs and abilities of students.

Learning outcomes:

• Explain the basic concept of query engineering and its importance in interacting with AI systems.
• Recognise the difference between good and bad queries and understand how query design affects the quality of responses.
• Apply the learned techniques in everyday use of AI tools for various educational and professional tasks.

Before watching the video lesson, it is recommended that you review the stated learning outcomes to know which aspects of the content to pay special attention to.

Then watch the video lesson, which features an interview with an expert who further explains the application of AI tools and systems in education.

As you watch the video lesson, note key terms, definitions, and examples that explain how AI can support personalisation in learning and teaching, and the role of teachers in this process. You can take notes in your own notebook (paper and pencil) or in a digital tool of your choice.

The topic of applying AI tools will be covered in more detail in later units. If you already have experience using them, you can incorporate them into your work according to your preferences – for example, to organise notes, reflect on content, or visually display relationships between concepts.

After watching the video lesson, reflect on the content presented and try to connect it to your own experiences using AI tools and systems in education.

Finally, read the conclusion below the video lesson, which summarises the main ideas and helps you check whether you have achieved the planned learning outcomes.

Watch the video lesson on prompt engineering.

Transcript

Welcome to a video on Prompt engineering. Today, we will explore how effective prompt design can improve your interactions with AI systems such as ChatGPT. Prompt engineering is an essential skill that helps you obtain more precise, relevant, and useful answers from AI.

Whether you use AI for educational or professional purposes, you will learn how to ask effective prompts through examples and practical tips, enabling you to make full use of AI’s capabilities. Prompt engineering involves designing clear, precise, and targeted prompts for AI systems. Depending on how and what we ask, AI can generate highly useful answers, or ones that are irrelevant or superficial. The quality of the response largely depends on how the Prompt is formulated. It is important to be specific, clear, and to frame your Prompt within an appropriate context.

Why is Prompt design so important? If a Prompt is unclear or not specific enough, AI may generate incomplete or incorrect answers.

For example, a general Prompt like, "Say something about the history of AI," may produce a very broad response. In contrast, a more precise Prompt like, "Describe the history of generative AI," will yield a far more focused and relevant answer.

Clear prompts lead to better answers. Is this not the same in human-to-human communication, or when it comes to living intelligence? Is there something different in the relationship between humans and machines, that is, AI? Here is an example of a well-formulated Prompt that we will ask AI, specifically the ChatGPT: "Explain how methodology and research differ in the social and natural sciences." After receiving the answer, we will try a more elaborate Prompt to show the difference in the quality of feedback: "Explain three key differences between methodologies and research in the social and natural sciences. Include specific examples of a research problem in each field and explain how the approaches differ in data analysis." Now we can compare the answers. You can notice a clear difference in depth and precision. We conclude that the clearer, more specific, and more focused a Prompt is on particular aspects of the topic, the more relevant, informative, and useful the AI response will be. On the other hand, poorly formulated prompts often lead to incomplete or confusing answers. For example, "Tell me something about AI in education." This Prompt is too broad and may result in answers that are not focused on specific information. Another example is the Prompt, "How to study." This Prompt is too general and can give answers that are not adapted to the specific context. From these examples, we see that AI will not be able to provide useful answers if the Prompt is not clear and precise.

How do you use AI, such as GPT, in your teaching? I use it for many purposes, mostly while studying, summarizing lessons, identifying the main problems, and preparing for exams. I ask it to quiz me to check my knowledge, and it is actually very important that the question I ask matches what I am aiming for. Can you give an example? For instance, when I want to understand a certain procedure for solving a math or chemistry problem, I do not just ask for the solution to the problem; I ask it to explain the procedure and the method for solving the problem. If I say I am a high school student, it provides much more detail and helps me understand the material better.

Is artificial intelligence always accurate? No, I do not think so. That is why I always verify the information with the materials I receive in class, and I use AI more to confirm my understanding or to explore the topic om my own first.

Is there a trick to asking questions?

There is a trick: instead of just asking for the solution to an equation, ask it to explain how to solve the equation, as if you were a high school or elementary school student. Then it will go into much more detail and provide every relevant explanation that could be important.

So, artificial intelligence does not just give us the result, but helps us understand the process? When you ask it to explain the procedure or the essence of a lesson, it will do so in a way that helps you understand, and not just provide the answer. That is why the way the question is asked matters – depending on your Prompt, you may receive only a solution, a way to rewrite it, or a detailed breakdown of a concept.

Prompt engineering is the key to getting relevant and quality answers from an artificial intelligence system. Through precision, clarity, and context, you can greatly improve the quality of your interactions with artificial intelligence. Think about how you can apply thesetechniques in your everyday use of AI. Being aware of how to ask efficient prompts allows you to get better results and save time.

Conclusion:

Query engineering is essential for obtaining quality responses from AI. Precise and specific prompts enable better interaction and more useful information, while poor prompts can result in incorrect answers. By developing query design skills, you can use AI more effectively for educational and professional purposes.