Science Fiction

Pluvious

(4,752 posts) Mon May 15, 2023, 06:30 PM May 2023

Asimov Unknowingly Pioneered Modern Prompt Engineering

The other day, I needed to configure some server settings for a rarely changed system process (crontab).

I duly googled the topic, read thru some informative "how-to" guides, and skilled all the options, not finding any easy answer.

Then I thot - just ask "Bing" in my Skype app...

And bam. There ya go. Just copy / paste into the config file and my job was done.

--

But when I crafted my request, I realized I needed to be very specific, with no ambiguity, etc.

Give me an example line for a cron schedule to run at 1 am only on the first Sunday of every month

Upon mentioning this to a fellow geek sys-admin, they go...

Well of course, you need to read up on "prompt engineering" - which I did, and gesh... I am soooo behind things !!

Ref: https://learnprompting.org/
"Your Guide to Communicating with Artificial Intelligence"

And this...

https://hackernoon.com/asimov-unknowingly-pioneered-modern-prompt-engineering
"Asimov Unknowingly Pioneered Modern Prompt Engineering"

Sci-Fi writers have been our great visionaries - Author C Clark invented the concept of the "artificial satellite," which make our world run these days ! (and also the "space elevator," which maybe someday we will build)

Prompt Engineering - The Background and History

Prompt engineering is a process in which input prompts to an AI large language model are crafted and refined to generate accurate, relevant, and useful output. It involves deliberate and systematic design and refinement of prompts and underlying data structures to manipulate AI systems towards achieving specific and desired outputs. With the emergence of AI, particularly natural language processing models, prompt engineering has gained significance as a means to improve the effectiveness and user experience of AI systems.

4 replies

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Asimov Unknowingly Pioneered Modern Prompt Engineering (Original Post) Pluvious May 2023 OP

AI will likely develop emergent reluctance to conservative ideology MutantAndProud May 2023 #1

We can only hope !! lol Pluvious May 2023 #2

With the right guidance MutantAndProud May 2023 #3

The original idea for the space elevator came from Russian scientist and space pioneer Konstantin Ts eppur_se_muova May 2023 #4

MutantAndProud

(855 posts)

1. AI will likely develop emergent reluctance to conservative ideology

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Mon May 15, 2023, 07:46 PM

May 2023

Republicans are a dying breed, it is mathematically impossible for them to persist in a modern society

Pluvious

(4,752 posts)

2. We can only hope !! lol

Reply to MutantAndProud (Reply #1)

Mon May 15, 2023, 08:45 PM

May 2023

MutantAndProud

(855 posts)

3. With the right guidance

Reply to Pluvious (Reply #2)

Mon May 15, 2023, 08:47 PM

May 2023

Systemic attempts to push the algorithms towards governance that leads to suffering and deprivation at the expense of the few will not be successful

Humanist guidelines must be implemented, even if various Christian denominations object or state that their ideology is equivalent. An agreement has to occur on a multi-cultural language dictionary within the rule set to make sure it does not favor ‘the next life’ or ‘production and growth of profits at any cost’ over a healthy life on our planet in a reasonable human timeframe

eppur_se_muova

(37,403 posts)

4. The original idea for the space elevator came from Russian scientist and space pioneer Konstantin Ts

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Tue May 16, 2023, 06:26 PM

May 2023

The original idea for the space elevator came from Russian scientist and space pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895.

https://interestingengineering.com/science/shoot-to-the-stars-15-facts-about-the-fascinating-space-elevator-concept

More than eight decades later, Clarke and Sheffield published, virtually simultaneous, two novels incorporating the idea of an "orbital tether", or space elevator. Sheffield actually takes the idea a bit further, to include bolos and other space tether ideas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountains_of_Paradise
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Web_Between_the_Worlds

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