PRO Prompt Engineering: How to Write Complex Prompts for AI Engineering

## PRO Prompt Engineering: How to Write Prompts for Complex Tasks You are no longer a beginner in working with language models. You know that a simple "Write a text about..." only works for basic queries. But when it comes to multi-tasking scenarios, code generation, data analysis, or creating entire documents, simple prompts fail. Welcome to the world of PRO prompt engineering — where every detail of the prompt structure affects the accuracy and quality of the AI's response. ### Why Simple Prompts Don't Work for Complex Tasks Modern neural networks (GPT-4, Claude 3, Gemini) are trained on trillions of tokens, but they cannot read minds. Without a clear structure, the model guesses your intentions, leading to superficial or irrelevant results. Complex tasks require contextual programming: you set not just a topic, but the logic of thinking, roles, and a verification system. ### Advanced Prompt Engineering Techniques #### 1. Chain-of-Thought Essence: Make the model "think out loud" by breaking the task into steps. This is especially useful for logical tasks, mathematics, and analytics. **Example (bad prompt):** > "Calculate how many days until New Year if today is June 19, 2026." **Example (PRO prompt with CoT):** > "You are an AI analyst. Solve the problem step by step: > 1. Determine the number of days in each month from June to December 2026. > 2. Subtract the already passed days of June (19 days). > 3. Sum the remaining days. > Give the answer in the format: 'X days left.'" Result: The model not only outputs a number but demonstrates logic, reducing the risk of errors. #### 2. Few-Shot Instead of an instruction, provide 2-3 examples of "question-answer." This sets the style, structure, and depth of the response. **Example for generating headlines:** > "Below are examples of prompts for complex tasks. Respond in the same style: > Example 1: 'Write a prompt for sentiment analysis of reviews' → 'You are a linguist. Classify each review as positive, negative, or neutral. Use a scale from -1 to 1.' > Example 2: 'Create a prompt for writing an essay' → 'You are a philosophy professor. Write a 500-word essay with an introduction, three arguments, and a conclusion.' > Now create a prompt for the task: 'Automatic business plan generator.'" #### 3. System Prompts These are hidden instructions that set the role, tone, and constraints. For professionals, this is the foundation of AI engineering. **Structure of a system prompt:** - **Role:** "You are a senior data scientist" - **Context:** "We are working with financial reports" - **Constraints:** "Do not use jargon, answers in JSON format" - **Goal:** "Your task is to identify trends over the last 5 years" **Example:** > "System prompt: You are an AI engineer with 10 years of experience. Respond only in Russian, use bulleted lists. If data is insufficient, indicate this. Goal: develop the architecture of a multi-agent system." #### 4. Multi-Agent Scenarios One model can play multiple roles in a single dialogue. This simulates team work. **Example scenario:** 1. **Analyst agent:** "Collect data on competitors" 2. **Critic agent:** "Verify the data for accuracy" 3. **Writer agent:** "Based on the data, write a marketing plan" Each step is a separate prompt with a clear role. This offloads context and improves quality. ### How to Combine Techniques? | Technique | When to Use | Example Task | |-----------|-------------|--------------| | Chain-of-Thought | Logic, calculations, analysis | "Calculate ROI for a startup" | | Few-Shot | Template-based generation | "Create 5 letter variants" | | System Prompts | Long sessions, bots | "You are bank tech support" | | Multi-Agent | Complex projects | "Develop an SEO strategy" | ### Common Mistakes in PRO Prompts 1. **Context overload.** Don't try to cram everything into one prompt. Break it into subtasks. 2. **Ambiguity.** Instead of "write well," specify criteria: "use data from 2025-2026, avoid clichés." 3. **Ignoring output.** Always request the response format: "in table form," "list of 5 items," "JSON with keys

PRO Prompt Engineering: How to Write Complex Prompts for AI Engineering

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