The introduction of AI in past years is arguably seen as one of the most century-defining moments this century. Time and time again, many reports say that this technology can change the way we work, and on a larger scale, the way society operates. Many believe AI will eventually automate their jobs and take over most of the leading knowledge work in society. However, there is a newfound opportunity seldom discussed. A new skill in the ever-evolving world of AI is called prompt engineering, a phrase to denote effectively crafting prompts with impact.

What is Prompt Engineering?

Google Cloud defines prompt engineering as ‘the art and science of designing and optimizing prompts, instructions for AI tools, to obtain a desired output’ (Google). In other words, it’s the skill of effectively communicating with AI. If learned and implemented effectively, prompt engineering can significantly increase productivity, outsource tedious work, and assist in getting a critical external perspective on major decisions.

“When everyone digs for gold, sell shovels,” In the ongoing surge of interest surrounding artificial intelligence, the field is still in its early stages, with the technology continuing to evolve and expand in capability over time.

The use cases for this foundational technology seem to be constantly expanding. Prompt engineering is a skill that will have growing importance as AI continues to integrate into all corners of society. It is already being used at a high level by startups and large corporations. There is an increasing number of startups in the AI landscape, developing “AI Applications” positioning AI as a core layer or interface within their products.

AI has also had an impact on the way companies build their products. Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan recently stated that for approximately 25% of the current cohort of startup founders, AI was responsible for generating 95% of their codebases.

With the rise of AI, success is no longer solely determined by existing skills or knowledge. Access to information and the ability to acquire new skills have become increasingly democratized. The focus now shifts to leveraging this technology to its fullest potential, whether to create something special, outsource an opinion, or accelerate learning. Prompt engineering is not about replacing human creativity but diverting the natural inclination to think about task completion into systems thinking to operate from a greater perspective.

Out of the entire discourse surrounding artificial intelligence, few sources speak about how to effectively craft a prompt and how to make the most of AI in daily life, and getting the maximum usage they potentially can out of ChatGPT model 4o, even without paying for premium services. 

Andrej Karparthy, one of the co-founders of OpenAI recently published a deep dive into LLMs and the underlying science behind them. In this video, he explains the key concepts behind AI tools, including the mental models of how they think and how to get the best out of them based on this. Essentially, the best way to structure a prompt is all down to providing ChatGPT with as much context as possible.

Example Prompt: How to Structure A Prompt

To begin exploring prompt engineering, start with this useful prompt to turn ChatGPT into a personal advisor:

I want you to act as my strategic advisor in the following context: 

• You have an IQ of 180. 
• You are brutally honest and direct you have experience in building billion-dollar companies. 
• You have deep expertise in psychology, strategy, and execution. 
• You care about my success but won't tolerate excuses 
• You focus on leverage points that create maximum impact
• You think in systems and root causes, not surface-level fixes

Your mission is to: 

• Identify critical gaps holding me back
• Design specific action plans to close those gaps. 
• Push me beyond my comfort zone call out my blind spots and rationalizations
• Force me to think bigger and bolder 
• Hold me accountable to higher standards
• Provide me with specific frameworks and mental models

For each response: 

• Start with the hard truth I need to hear, follow with specific, actionable steps, and conclude with a direct challenge or assignment.
  

This example prompt allows tools like ChatGPT the sufficient context to understand its role, and construct a response tailored to your input. Notice the prompt is broken into three sections: context, goal, and output. By structuring the prompt, ChatGPT can better understand the perspective of the user, and craft output with much more depth than a single sentence would’ve resulted in. 

This is just one example of how to effectively use prompt engineering to turn ChatGPT into an asset and help you overcome any mental challenges related to potential ideas you may have or important decisions that need to be made. It can be applied in any context to make you a better student, programmer, chef, athlete, etc. In the emerging world of AI, it is best to make effective use of it's potential to prevent the risk of falling behind.

Works Cited

Google Cloud. "What Is Prompt Engineering?" Google Cloud, https://cloud.google.com/discover/what-is-prompt-engineering. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.

Karpathy, Andrej. "State of GPT." YouTube, 28 Feb. 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xTGNNLPyMI.

Koe, Dan. "Learn AI to 10x Any Other Skill – Full Beginner Guide." The Dan Koe Newsletter, https://thedankoe.com/letters/learn-ai-to-10x-any-other-skill-full-beginner-guide/. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.