Prompt engineering

What it actually means

Systematically designing inputs to get more reliable outputs. In practice most of it is writing requirements, boundaries and examples clearly.

What it means in the meeting

Say what you actually want.

What to ask back

Can we state this requirement in one sentence right now?

Why this one gets stretched

The reason it works so often is that the original request wasn't clear. It has real value — and it also quietly exposes something: a lot of 'the model isn't good enough' is really 'the requirement was never thought through'.

Usually heard: Company-wide training, and anywhere someone wants a proprietary methodology.

Related terms

AI Jargon Decoder

The literal definitions aim to be accurate. The only column joking on this page is the meeting-room one.