These articles explain elements and techniques of prompt engineering and offer recommendations and examples of prompts for effective use of large language models. Lin’s article includes a table with comparison of major large language models (as of February 2024).

Lin Z. How to write effective prompts for large language models. Nat Hum Behav. 2024;8:611–615.

Effectively engaging with large language models is becoming increasingly vital as they proliferate across research landscapes. This Comment presents a practical guide for understanding their capabilities and limitations, along with strategies for crafting well-structured queries, to extract maximum utility from these artificial intelligence tools.

Giray L. Prompt engineering with ChatGPT: a guide for academic writers. Ann Biomed Eng.  2023;51(12):2629-2633.

Abstract: Prompt engineering is a relatively new discipline that refers to the practice of developing and optimizing prompts to effectively utilize large language models, particularly in natural language processing tasks. However, not many writers and researchers are familiar about this discipline. Hence, in this paper, I aim to highlight the significance of prompt engineering for academic writers and researchers, particularly the fledgling, in the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence. I also discuss the concepts of prompt engineering, large language models, and the techniques and pitfalls of writing prompts. Here, I contend that by acquiring prompt engineering skills, academic writers can navigate the changing landscape and leverage large language models to enhance their writing process. As artificial intelligence continues to advance and penetrate the arena of academic writing, prompt engineering equips writers and researchers with the essential skills to effectively harness the power of language models. This enables them to confidently explore new opportunities, enhance their writing endeavors, and remain at the forefront of utilizing cutting-edge technologies in their academic pursuits.

Meskó B. Prompt engineering as an important emerging skill for medical professionals: tutorial. J Med Internet Res. 2023:25:e50638. doi: 10.2196/50638.

Abstract: Prompt engineering is a relatively new field of research that refers to the practice of designing, refining, and implementing prompts or instructions that guide the output of large language models (LLMs) to help in various tasks. With the emergence of LLMs, the most popular one being ChatGPT that has attracted the attention of over a 100 million users in only 2 months, artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI, has become accessible for the masses. This is an unprecedented paradigm shift not only because of the use of AI becoming more widespread but also due to the possible implications of LLMs in health care. As more patients and medical professionals use AI-based tools, LLMs being the most popular representatives of that group, it seems inevitable to address the challenge to improve this skill. This paper summarizes the current state of research about prompt engineering and, at the same time, aims at providing practical recommendations for the wide range of health care professionals to improve their interactions with LLMs.

Questions

1. What did you learn from reading these articles? Any AHA moments?
2. What experience do you have with prompting large language models?
3. Can you share an example of an effective prompt you used with a large language model to plan education or create learning resources?
4. What other helpful resources for prompt engineering are you aware of?