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IBM

Introduction to Prompt Engineering

IBM via edX

Overview

As generative AI (GenAI) reshapes how we work and complete our tasks, understanding how to use it effectively is now essential. Writing effective prompts is key to directing GenAI models correctly and refining their output to get the results you’re looking for.

This course enables professionals, executives, students, and AI enthusiasts to master prompt engineering and unlock the extraordinary power of tools like ChatGPT.

You’ll learn practical techniques, structured methods, and best practices for crafting strong prompts. You’ll explore zero-shot and few-shot prompting to boost reliability and output quality. Plus, you’ll look at advanced methods such as the Interview Pattern, Chain-of-Thought, and Tree-of-Thought to produce accurate, context-aware responses.

You’ll get hands-on in labs and projects, gaining practical experience in multimodal prompting, the playoff method, and image generation. You’ll also practice blending text and visuals and evaluating AI outputs for precision and usefulness.

As you learn, podcasts, dialogues, and discussions will link theory to real-world scenarios, and expert insights will highlight strategies for effective prompt use. Then, in a final project and graded assessments, you’ll apply the techniques you’ve learned to reinforce the practical, job-ready skills you have gained.

Enroll today to master prompt engineering and unlock the extraordinary potential that GenAI can bring to your work.

Syllabus

Module 1: Concept of Prompt Engineering

  • Understand what prompts are and their role in generative AI
  • Apply best practices to craft effective prompts
  • Explore common tools and techniques for prompt engineering
  • Practice naive prompting and persona-based prompting

Module 2: Techniques and Approaches

  • Use structured methods like Interview, Chain-of-Thought, and Tree-of-Thought
  • Apply multimodal prompts combining text, visuals, and other inputs
  • Experiment with the Playoff Method to refine outputs
  • Evaluate which prompt strategies best fit different use cases

Module 3: Advanced Prompting and Real-World Application

  • Create effective text-to-image prompts for generative AI tools
  • Apply prompt hacks to improve accuracy and reliability
  • Explore expert insights on real-world prompt engineering practices
  • Practice through labs, discussions, and case scenarios

Final Project and Assessment

  • Complete a capstone project applying all learned prompt engineering techniques
  • Take the final graded quiz to demonstrate mastery
  • Reflect on next steps and real-world applications of prompt engineering

Taught by

Rav Ahuja

Reviews

4.4 rating at edX based on 258 ratings

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