Chris Olah

So these very like taking the examples that are right at the edge of what you want and don't want. and putting those into your prompt as like an additional kind of way of describing the thing. And so yeah, in many ways, it just feels like this mix of like, it's really just trying to do clear exposition. And I think I do that because that's how I get clear on things myself.

So in many ways, like clear prompting for me is often just me understanding what I want. It's like half the task.

So in many ways, like clear prompting for me is often just me understanding what I want. It's like half the task.

So in many ways, like clear prompting for me is often just me understanding what I want. It's like half the task.

Yeah, I think that prompting does feel a lot like the kind of the programming using natural language and experimentation or something. It's an odd blend of the two. I do think that for most tasks, so if I just want Claude to do a thing, I think that I am probably more used to knowing how to ask it to avoid like common pitfalls or issues that it has. I think these are decreasing a lot over time.

Yeah, I think that prompting does feel a lot like the kind of the programming using natural language and experimentation or something. It's an odd blend of the two. I do think that for most tasks, so if I just want Claude to do a thing, I think that I am probably more used to knowing how to ask it to avoid like common pitfalls or issues that it has. I think these are decreasing a lot over time.

Yeah, I think that prompting does feel a lot like the kind of the programming using natural language and experimentation or something. It's an odd blend of the two. I do think that for most tasks, so if I just want Claude to do a thing, I think that I am probably more used to knowing how to ask it to avoid like common pitfalls or issues that it has. I think these are decreasing a lot over time.

But it's also very fine to just ask it for the thing that you want. I think that prompting actually only really becomes relevant when you're really trying to eke out the top like 2% of model performance. So for like a lot of tasks, I might just, you know, if it gives me an initial list back and there's something I don't like about it, like it's kind of generic.

But it's also very fine to just ask it for the thing that you want. I think that prompting actually only really becomes relevant when you're really trying to eke out the top like 2% of model performance. So for like a lot of tasks, I might just, you know, if it gives me an initial list back and there's something I don't like about it, like it's kind of generic.

But it's also very fine to just ask it for the thing that you want. I think that prompting actually only really becomes relevant when you're really trying to eke out the top like 2% of model performance. So for like a lot of tasks, I might just, you know, if it gives me an initial list back and there's something I don't like about it, like it's kind of generic.

Like for that kind of task, I'd probably just take a bunch of questions that I've had in the past that I've thought worked really well and I would just give it to the model and then be like, now here's this person that I'm talking with. give me questions of at least that quality. Or I might just ask it for some questions.

Like for that kind of task, I'd probably just take a bunch of questions that I've had in the past that I've thought worked really well and I would just give it to the model and then be like, now here's this person that I'm talking with. give me questions of at least that quality. Or I might just ask it for some questions.

Like for that kind of task, I'd probably just take a bunch of questions that I've had in the past that I've thought worked really well and I would just give it to the model and then be like, now here's this person that I'm talking with. give me questions of at least that quality. Or I might just ask it for some questions.

And then if I was like, oh, these are kind of trite or like, you know, I would just give it that feedback and then hopefully it produces a better list. I think that kind of iterative prompting At that point, your prompt is like a tool that you're going to get so much value out of that you're willing to put in the work.

And then if I was like, oh, these are kind of trite or like, you know, I would just give it that feedback and then hopefully it produces a better list. I think that kind of iterative prompting At that point, your prompt is like a tool that you're going to get so much value out of that you're willing to put in the work.

And then if I was like, oh, these are kind of trite or like, you know, I would just give it that feedback and then hopefully it produces a better list. I think that kind of iterative prompting At that point, your prompt is like a tool that you're going to get so much value out of that you're willing to put in the work.

Like if I was a company making prompts for models, I'm just like, if you're willing to spend a lot of like time and resources on the engineering behind like what you're building, then the prompt is not something that you should be spending like an hour on. It's like that's a big part of your system. Make sure it's working really well. And so it's only things like that.

Like if I was a company making prompts for models, I'm just like, if you're willing to spend a lot of like time and resources on the engineering behind like what you're building, then the prompt is not something that you should be spending like an hour on. It's like that's a big part of your system. Make sure it's working really well. And so it's only things like that.

Like if I was a company making prompts for models, I'm just like, if you're willing to spend a lot of like time and resources on the engineering behind like what you're building, then the prompt is not something that you should be spending like an hour on. It's like that's a big part of your system. Make sure it's working really well. And so it's only things like that.

Like if I, if I'm using a prompt to like classify things or to create data, that's when you're like, it's actually worth just spending like a lot of time, like really thinking it through.