Glossary
Prompt engineering
Prompt engineering is the craft of writing requests that get good answers from AI: giving context, examples, constraints, and a clear goal. Less magic words, more clear briefing, and anyone can learn the basics in an afternoon.
Despite the intimidating name, prompt engineering is mostly the skill of briefing well, the same skill a bar owner uses with a new supplier: what I need, by when, in what form, what to avoid.
The handful of techniques that do most of the work: Give context (“I run a 12-table trattoria” beats “I have a business”). Show an example of the output you want, since one good example outperforms three paragraphs of description. Set constraints (length, tone, format, “no corporate filler”). Assign a role (“act as a strict proofreader”). Iterate: the second prompt, informed by the first answer, is where quality jumps.
A debunk worth having: early tricks like “take a deep breath” or tip-promising have mostly aged out. Modern models respond to clarity, not incantations. And “prompt engineer” as a standalone job title largely dissolved into everyone’s job; the skill stayed, the mystique didn’t.
Where you’ll meet this
In every chat box, whether you name it or not, plus prompt libraries and the “improve my prompt” features appearing inside assistants. Our prompt fixer applies these techniques to your actual prompt and explains each change, so the skill sticks.