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Step 2: Write an Example Prompt
Let’s walk through the following example. In this scenario, the end goal is to generate a biography about “Mary Miller - Yext Employee”.
Step 1: Provide Sufficient Context
Let’s say I start with the following prompt:
Write a biography about Mary Miller, who is an Employee at Yext.
The Model returns the following:
Mary Miller is an employee at Yext, a leading digital knowledge management company that helps businesses manage their digital knowledge across their websites, apps, and other digital services. Miller joined Yext in 2019 as a Senior Product Manager.
Miller is a skilled product manager with over a decade of experience in the digital marketing industry. She has a passion for helping businesses develop and manage their online presence. Prior to joining Yext, Miller worked at Amazon Web Services where she managed the company’s CloudFront product.
Miller is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. She also holds an MBA from the University of Washington.
At Yext, Miller is responsible for developing and managing the company’s products, including its digital knowledge management platform. She works closely with the engineering, product, and sales teams to ensure the platform meets customer needs.
Miller is also an active member of the Yext community, often speaking at conferences and participating in forums. She is a strong advocate for the power of digital knowledge management and its potential to help businesses succeed.
Miller is an enthusiastic and dedicated employee. She is committed to helping businesses succeed and is passionate about the power
All of the bolded information is INCORRECT!
Despite the model knowing that Mary Miller is a Product Manager, the details included are a product of “hallucination.” In order to improve the response, I now add some real details about Mary:
| Prompt | Response |
|---|---|
| Write a biography about Mary Miller, who is an employee at Yext. #Resume: Hometown: Ramsey, NJ Role: Associate Product Manager Years at Yext: 2 #Biography: |
Mary Miller is an Associate Product Manager at Yext, a leading location data management platform. Mary is originally from Ramsey, NJ, and has been working at Yext for two years. In her role as Associate Product Manager, Mary is responsible for managing the lifecycle of Yext’s products. She works closely with developers, designers, QA teams, and other team members to ensure that products are built to the highest standards. Mary is also responsible for collecting customer feedback and identifying opportunities for improvement in Yext’s products. Mary is passionate about helping businesses succeed by leveraging the power of location data. She is also committed to helping Yext’s products reach their full potential. Mary is a hardworking and creative individual who is passionate about her work and always looking for new ways to innovate. In her free time, Mary enjoys spending time with her family, running, and cooking. She is also an avid reader and has a passion for learning new things. Mary’s enthusiasm and drive make her an invaluable part of the Yext team. |
Although better (with fewer inaccuracies), there was still very little information provided. If we can add more details to the resume, it’s likely that we can:
- Decrease the amount information that might be “wrong”(in red, not taken from the prompt)
- Decrease repetition (i.e. “filler” data)
So I now send the following prompt and receive the following response:
| Prompt | Response |
|---|---|
| Write a biography about Mary Miller, who is an employee at Yext. #Resume: Hometown: Ramsey, NJ Role: Associate Product Manager Years at Yext: 2 Educational Background: University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering Interests: Data ingestion, Generative AI Manager: Sam Smith Favorite Cuisine: Italian #Biography: |
Mary Miller is a passionate and driven associate product manager at Yext. She hails from Ramsey, NJ and has been with the company for two years. At Yext, Mary specializes in data ingestion, generative AI, and product development. Mary’s educational background is impressive, as she graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She has a deep passion for technology, which is why she was attracted to Yext. She is currently under the guidance of Sam Smith, the director of product management. Mary’s ambition and commitment to the product has made her a valuable asset to the team. She is constantly pushing the boundaries of technology and is never afraid to take risks. Her hard work and dedication to Yext have made her a key player in the company’s success. |
Unfortunately, there are still two pieces of hallucinated information. However, the information is not as repetitive, and making adjustments to the result is certainly manageable. Having this content as a starting point can significantly increase efficiency.
Taking it a step further, we can eliminate inaccuracies by discreetly including the phrase “Do not pull from content that is not provided below”
| Prompt | Response |
|---|---|
| Write a biography about Mary Miller, who is an employee at Yext. Do not pull from content that is not provided below. #Resume: Hometown: Ramsey, NJ Role: Associate Product Manager Years at Yext: 2 Educational Background: University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering Interests: Data ingestion, Generative AI Manager: Sam Smith Favorite Cuisine: Italian #Biography: |
Mary Miller is a passionate and driven associate product manager at Yext. She hails from Ramsey, NJ and has been with the company for two years. At Yext, Mary specializes in data ingestion, generative AI, and product development. Mary’s educational background is impressive, as she graduated with a degree in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She has a deep passion for technology, which is why she was attracted to Yext. She is currently under the guidance of Sam Smith, the director of product management. Mary’s ambition and commitment to the product has made her a valuable asset to the team. She is constantly pushing the boundaries of technology and is never afraid to take risks. Her hard work and dedication to Yext have made her a key player in the company’s success. |
Wow - we made it to 0 pieces of inaccurate information!
However, it’s possible that running the exact same prompt would result in inaccurate or repetitive information. The changes to the model are meant to decrease such chances and decrease the amount of edits that might be required between generation and production.
Step 2 - Incorporating Prose/Formatting Guidelines
Now that we have the content nailed, I want to refine my biography to better suit the formatting guidelines of my company. I can modify the prompt to include specific formatting instructions.
| Prompt | Response |
|---|---|
| Write a biography about Mary Miller, who is an employee at Yext. Do not pull from content that is not provided below. #Resume: Hometown: Ramsey, NJ Role: Associate Product Manager Years at Yext: 2 Educational Background: University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering Interests: Data ingestion, Generative AI Manager: Sam Smith Favorite Cuisine: Italian #Instructions: - Write 3 paragraphs - Do not use the word “great” - End the biography talking about how Yext is a great place to work. - Use a formal tone #Biography: |
Mary Miller is a skilled Associate Product Manager at Yext, working out of their office in Ramsey, NJ. She has been part of the Yext team for the past 2 years and is responsible for managing the data ingestion and generative AI processes. Prior to joining the company, Mary obtained her degree in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Mary’s deep understanding of data ingestion and AI processes has made her an invaluable member of the team. Her manager, Sam Smith, has praised her for her hard work and dedication to the company. In her free time, Mary enjoys exploring the local Italian cuisine. Yext is a great place for Mary to put her skills to use. With its diverse team and cutting-edge technology, Yext is the perfect environment for Mary to continue growing and developing as a Product Manager. |
Here, you can see that the model did improve the structure by limiting the biography to 3 paragraphs, and closing the biography about Yext being a great place to work! However, we can still see that 2 instructions were not followed:
- We did not say the office was in Ramsey, NJ
- We instructed the model to not use “great”
Let’s try one more time, providing more explicit and repetitive instructions.
| Prompt | Response |
|---|---|
| Write a biography about Mary Miller, who is an employee at Yext. Do not pull from content that is not provided below. #Resume: Hometown: Ramsey, NJ Role: Associate Product Manager Years at Yext: 2 Educational Background: University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering Interests: Data ingestion, Generative AI Manager: Sam Smith Favorite Cuisine: Italian #Instructions: - Write 3 paragraphs - Do not use the word “great” - End the biography talking about how Yext is a great place to work. - Use a formal tone #Biography: (3 paragraphs, exclude the word great): |
Mary Miller is an Associate Product Manager at Yext, where she has worked for two years. She hails from Ramsey, NJ, and has an educational background in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Mary is a highly experienced data engineer and has a deep interest in AI. She is especially passionate about generative AI, and loves to explore new ways of using AI to solve complex problems. Mary is a valued member of the team, and reports directly to Sam Smith. She plays an important role in developing and managing Yext’s products, and is always looking for ways to optimize the user experience. Mary is also a huge fan of Italian cuisine and loves to cook her favorite dishes in her free time. Yext is an excellent place for Mary to showcase her skills and continue to grow her career. The company’s commitment to innovation and the positive work environment makes it a positive place to work. Mary is looking forward to continuing to learn and contribute to Yext’s success. |
With the minor tweak of repeating the instruction to exclude “great” and being more explicit in saying “at all”, we can see the change in response!
However, it’s crucial to note that it’s possible the change in prompt is NOT actually what influenced this fully accurate, perfectly formatted biography. To reiterate, the model is non-deterministic, meaning it may choose to sometimes follow the instructions and sometimes not.
Using the provided tips though will set you up for the best chances of success!
Summary
- Providing more context can constrain the the model’s output to reflect the most accurate information
- Providing explicit instructions is important - this includes intentional word choices and repeating key phrases
- While the model is not perfect - it will be a better starting place than NO content!