Master AI Prompting: The Delimiter and Definition (DD) Trick

Table of Contents

• Introducing the Fundamental DD Prompt Engineering Technique
• Adding Background Information to AI Prompts
• Real-World Applications of the DD Trick
• Advancing Your AI Skills with DD Prompting
• Conclusion and Next Steps

Introducing the Fundamental DD Prompt Engineering Technique

Prompt engineering is a crucial skill for getting the most out of AI. One of the most useful prompt engineering techniques is the DD trick, which stands for delimiter and definition. This method allows you to provide key background information to the AI, while also giving you a way to explicitly reference that information later in your prompt.

In this blog post, we'll break down exactly how the DD trick works and why it's so valuable for crafting effective AI prompts.

What is a Delimiter?

A delimiter is a set of tags that allows you to encapsulate a specific piece of information in your prompt. Typically, delimiters are created using inequality signs or HTML-style tags. For example: This is some text I want the AI to know about.. The delimiter serves to separate out this chunk of text, almost like putting it in quotation marks. This allows you to feed detailed background information to the AI in a structured way.

Defining Information for the AI

The second part of the DD trick is using a definition to explicitly tell the AI when to refer back to the delimited information. You do this by using a capitalized version of the delimiter name. For example, if you delimited some text as , you would later in the prompt say something like: Use what you know about Deck to help with this task. The capitalized Deck tells the AI to refer back to what was inside the tags earlier in the prompt. This technique of delimiting and defining is incredibly useful because it allows you to provide background information to the AI in a organized way, while still giving you control over when the AI should use that information.

Adding Background Information to AI Prompts

One of the challenges of prompt engineering is figuring out how much background information to provide to the AI. Too little, and the AI lacks the context to complete the task well. Too much, and you risk biasing the AI or confusing it with irrelevant details.

The DD trick offers an elegant solution to this issue by letting you encapsulate key background details in your prompt, while still keeping the prompt structure clear.

Using Tags to Delimit Content

Let's say you wanted an AI assistant to write a blog post about a new project you've been working on. The AI will need some background on the project, but you don't want to clutter up the whole prompt with long descriptions. This is where delimiters come in handy. You could add a delimiter like: <project_info>The Cool New Project aims to...</project_info> This neatly packages up the key info for the AI without overloading the rest of the prompt.

Referencing Delimited Information Later

Once you've delimited key information, you can then easily reference it later using the definition technique. For example: Based on what you know about Project_Info, write an engaging blog post introduction. The capitalized Project_Info tells the AI to refer back to what was inside the <project_info> tags earlier. This allows you to keep prompts clean and organized, while still providing the AI with the background it needs. The AI doesn't have to wade through lots of unnecessary details, just the most relevant info you've delimited.

Real-World Applications of the DD Trick

Now that we've covered the basics of delimiting and defining, let's look at some real-world examples of how this prompt engineering technique can be applied.

Customizing Prompts for Documents

The DD trick shines when you need an AI to generate custom documents that require some specific background knowledge. For example, you could provide the AI with a delimited <company_info> section containing details about your business. Then in your prompt to generate a custom company report, you can simply say: Use what you know about Company_Info to populate key details in this report. Much easier than trying to cram lots of company history into the prompt itself!

Streamlining AI Tasks

You can also use the DD trick to streamline repetitive AI tasks. Suppose you frequently need an AI to summarize customer feedback based on surveys. You could delimit a template section with the common questions. Then your prompt can say: Summarize the key points from Survey. The AI will automatically know to fill in the details from the delimited survey template each time.

Advancing Your AI Skills with DD Prompting

Mastering prompt engineering is critical for getting the most out of AI. The delimiter and definition technique provides a straightforward way to supply key background information to AI models, while keeping your prompts clean and structured.

With some practice, you'll find the DD trick becoming second-nature whenever you need to provide context to an AI assistant. You'll be able to craft prompts more efficiently, streamline workflows, and direct the AI to focus on exactly what you need.

Conclusion and Next Steps

The DD trick is a prompt engineering skill that all AI users should have in their toolbox. By delimiting key information and defining when the AI should reference it, you can keep prompts organized while still providing the AI with crucial background context.

To take the next step in advancing your prompt engineering abilities, practice using the DD technique for your real AI use cases. The more you use it, the more natural delimiting and defining will become. With this prompt engineering skill, you'll be able to get more value out of your AI while saving time and effort.

FAQ

Q: What are delimiters in AI prompting?
A: Delimiters are tags or markup that allow you to isolate a specific piece of background information in your AI prompt.

Q: Why define delimited information?
A: By defining delimited information with a capitalized name, you can conveniently reference it later in your prompt when giving the AI instructions.

Q: What kinds of information work well for the DD trick?
A: All types of documents and data like slide decks, reports, policies, emails, research, and more can be delimited for the AI.

Q: How does this help me create better AI prompts?
A: Using delimiters and definitions allows you to efficiently provide key background context to the AI, enhancing its ability to complete your desired tasks.

Q: What if I'm new to AI prompting?
A: Mastering techniques like the DD trick will quickly advance your skills in AI prompting and realize more of its time-saving potential.