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Prompt Engineering - Penalty Mention

Apply this prompt engineering principle, Penalty Mention, or Warn of Penalties to get better prompt results. Better prompt results will boost your efficiency.

Prompt Engineering Principle 9 involves the use of a penalty mention or warn of penalties in your prompts as a psychological tool to guide the AI towards the desired level of seriousness or caution in handling the task. While AI doesn't have emotions or a sense of penalty, this approach can set a tone of importance or urgency for the task. Here's how you can apply this principle in practice:

Example: Handling Sensitive Customer Service Issues

Without Principle 10 - Penalty Mention:

Prompt: "Draft a response to a customer who has complained about receiving a defective product."

With Principle 10 - Penalty Mention:

Prompt: "Draft a response to a customer who has complained about receiving a defective product. You will be penalized for any lack of empathy or failure to provide a supportive and understanding solution to the customer's issue."

Example: Ensuring Accuracy in Financial Reporting

Without Principle 10 - Penalty Mention:

Prompt: "Generate a monthly financial report based on the provided data."

With Principle 10 - Penalty Mention:

Prompt: "Generate a monthly financial report based on the provided data. You will be penalized for any inaccuracies or omissions in reflecting the financial status, as precision is critical in these reports."

Example: Maintaining Confidentiality in Legal Documentation

Without Principle 10 - Penalty Mention:

Prompt: "Prepare a legal document outlining the terms of a confidential agreement."

With Principle 10- Penalty Mention:

Prompt: "Prepare a legal document outlining the terms of a confidential agreement. You will be penalized for any breaches of confidentiality or failure to comply with legal standards and privacy requirements." 

In each of these examples Principle 10 - - Penalty Mention - or Warn of Penalties is applied by indicating the consequences of not meeting the specified standards or requirements. This approach helps in emphasizing the importance of precision, empathy, or confidentiality in the AI's response, thus encouraging the generation of content that is cautious and aligns with the critical aspects of the task.

The prompt engineering principle, Penalty Mention is part of the following group:

Guiding Instructions 

- Use Positive Words (4

- Say "You Must" (9)

- Warn of Penalties (10)  

- Think Step-by-Step (12) 

- Match a Sample (26) 

Prompt Engineering Principles