prompting discussion
41 messages • iMessage
thoughts shared in light of (though certainly not limited to) Deep Research
- Josh
speaking into this for 1-5 minutes is an extremely underrated prompting technique
- Manu
Ohh right
That's way easier
- Josh
When you do that you tend not to second guess how to express what you have in mind
whereas most people tend to do that when writing a "prompt"
When you do that you tend not to second guess how to express what you have in mind
the absolute ideal form is writing with this fluidity plus honed precision
speaking into this for 1-5 minutes is an extremely underrated prompting technique
That's why I say it's so extreme, because it is next level in terms of both convenience and capability unlock in the would-be prompter
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- Josh
if you want it to get on or beyond your level, the prompt needs to unquestionably demonstrate domain expertise
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- Josh
[...] unquestionably demonstrate domain expertise
also on this note and along the lines of the dictation thing — that level of depth can be conveyed very casually in a voice note
you really don't need to follow a prompting tutorial from twitter or linkedin or whatever; those will lead you astray
there's no preset formula just like there isn't for talking to people
it's just communication
there's no preset formula just like there isn't for talking to people
if you try to treat people that way in learning to communicate for e.g. business, you will always be a step below the version of yourself that understands that
sota language models are no different, nor have they ever been
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- Manu
So basically just try to be as direct as possible and as much context as possible
To convey nuance etc
- Josh
yeah, keep turning over verbal stones
when you could say more, do so
the absolute ideal form is writing with this fluidity plus honed precision
Not needlessly
but just when you feel it, which comes with practice
thoughts expressed to you here today in other/further words
- Manu
The better a model gets, the better prompting needs to get to leverage the max potential of it
- Josh
"the max" is just like, a baseline
because as with writing for humans, there is no true max; it can always be better
- Manu
Yes
- Josh
there is no true max; it can always be better
but there are percentiles to it, levels of capability where only 1% and 0.01% will reach
language is like music
- Manu
Language isn't perfect communication so there's always room for improvement
but there are percentiles to it [...]
Right
language is like music
Hmm
- Josh
music is language
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- Josh
music can be perfect
in the moment
an expression can be literally perfect
in this subjective way, shared between the producer/listener, subject/object
precisely what's needed to communicate something precise
- Manu
hmm
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- Josh
an expression can be literally perfect
my point was that typically you as the artist need to find an audience to hear and resonate with your perfect expression
but language models can shapeshift into that perfect audience receiving your perfect expression
like an art major observing Michelangelo's David, except the feedback loop is instant rather than centuries
you form your expressions, send them, model perfectly receives and responds accordingly