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2. Talking to a model well

Prompt engineering

Writing and refining prompts deliberately: giving the model a role, rules, examples, and a required output format instead of just a bare question. Less mystical than it sounds — it's technical writing.

Why it matters: the gap between a mediocre and excellent AI result is usually the prompt, not the model. It's also the most learnable skill in this entire dictionary.

Related: Prompt