What is Prompt Engineering? Simple Explanation (2026)
AI Glossary
What is Prompt Engineering?
Definition: Prompt engineering is the practice of crafting effective instructions (prompts) for AI models to get better, more accurate outputs. It’s a crucial skill for getting the most out of tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Midjourney.
How Does Prompt Engineering Work?
Good prompts include: clear instructions, relevant context, specific output format requirements, examples of desired output, and role-playing instructions. Advanced techniques include chain-of-thought prompting, few-shot learning, and system prompts.
Examples
Zero-shot prompting, few-shot prompting, chain-of-thought, tree-of-thought, ReAct prompting, self-consistency
Related Reading
Learn more about how Prompt Engineering is used in practice:
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