What is Generative AI?
Generative AI refers to a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content, ranging from text to images, based on the input it receives. These AI models, such as GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), are trained on vast datasets comprising diverse forms of human-created content like articles, books, and websites. The AI learns patterns, language structures, and context from this data, allowing it to generate coherent and contextually relevant responses when given a prompt.
How the Models Work:
Generative AI models work by predicting the next word or phrase in a sequence, given an initial input or “prompt.” This prediction is based on patterns it learned during training. The model continues generating content by repeating this process, effectively “writing” in real-time. The quality and accuracy of the output depend largely on the prompt given, which is where prompt engineering comes into play.
What is a Prompt?
A prompt is the initial input or instruction you provide to a generative AI model to guide its output. Think of it as a question, command, or sentence starter that tells the AI what kind of content you want it to generate. The more precise and well-structured your prompt, the more accurate and useful the AI’s response will be.
For example, a simple prompt might be, “Write a short story about a dragon.” The AI would generate a story based on the patterns it learned during training. However, if you provide a more detailed prompt like, “Write a short story about a young dragon learning to fly in a magical forest,” the output will be more tailored to your specific request.
Let’s compare two examples:
“What is climate change?”
And
“Write about how climate change influences storm surge along the coasts during a tropical cyclone. Also, provide real world examples of climate change’s attribution to storm surge.”
In the first example we provided a very broad prompt. We are liable to get a very broad but superficial response back from the model. In our second example, we have provided very specific information and our answer from the model is likely to be of higher quality and provide more descriptive information.
Remember, you can also provide keywords to