System Prompt
TechniquesInstructions given to an AI model before the user conversation begins, shaping its behavior, persona, and constraints.
Full Explanation
The system prompt is the 'instruction layer' of an AI application. It might define a persona ('You are a helpful customer support agent for Acme Corp'), set constraints ('Never discuss competitor products'), or provide context ('You have access to the following product catalog'). System prompts are typically invisible to end users and are how AI products are customized.
ChatGPT's system prompt defines its personality, safety guidelines, and knowledge boundaries.
Related Terms
The practice of crafting inputs to AI models to reliably get better, more accurate, or more specific outputs.
A type of AI model trained on vast amounts of text data that can generate, summarize, translate, and reason about language.
The maximum amount of text (measured in tokens) that an AI model can 'see' and process in a single interaction.