Companies are looking for individuals who have a mastery of artificial intelligence and are thus highly sought after in the job market.
Anant Agarwal, the Chief Platform Officer of 2U, a multi-million dollar ed tech company, has a piece of advice for those looking for the best place to start: "Prompt engineering" is the most essential skill, according to Agarwal. He tells CNBC Make It that this is the key to success.
Being proficient in prompt engineering is the capability to enter and refine text commands for generative AI programs, such as ChatGPT. The more adept you are, the more successful you can be in directing it to accomplish tasks such as writing emails, reports, or even creating PowerPoint presentations.
Agarwal, the founder of edX and professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT, who had been on the CNBC Technology Executive Council Advisory Board, emphasizes the importance of how requests are made to generative AI tools. edX was recently acquired by 2U in 2021.
Mastering the Art of Prompt Engineering for Top-Dollar Jobs
If you need ChatGPT to analyze data for you, it is best to be more specific than simply telling it "provide a data analysis report." This is because ChatGPT can misinterpret the command and give an answer that fails to provide useful information due to the numerous ways in which the numbers can be interpreted.
The following could be a prompt for an engineer that is particularly apt, as per a tutorial from AI educational platform DataCamp: "If you were a data analyst, could you please explain the steps that you would take to analyze a dataset that includes sales data for a store? This analysis should include determining the sales trends over time, recognizing the top-selling products, and gauging the sales performance in each region during the most recent quarter."
The implementation of prompt engineering could be especially beneficial in avoiding the most common issue with generative AI today: incidents of errors, falsified data and other blunders, otherwise known as "hallucinations."
According to Agarwal, an engineer who is well-instructed has the potential to keep Artificial Intelligence from developing false interpretations by introducing certain restraints. This, in turn, will lead to more precise and efficient outcomes.
By rearranging the structure of the text without changing the content, the following can be used to avoid plagiarism:
It is possible to remove any plagiarism by altering the text's structure without affecting the semantic meaning or context of the material. Preserving the markdown formatting is also key in this process.
FAQ
Q: What is prompt engineering, and why is it considered the No. 1 'most important' AI skill according to MIT expert Anant Agarwal?
A: Prompt engineering is the skill of refining and inputting text commands for generative AI programs like ChatGPT. It is considered the most important AI skill because it enables you to effectively communicate with AI tools, improving their accuracy and efficiency. Anant Agarwal emphasizes its importance for tasks like writing emails, reports, and presentations, making it highly valuable in today's job market.
Q: How can I learn the basics of prompt engineering in just 2 hours, as mentioned by Anant Agarwal?
A: Anant Agarwal suggests that you can learn the basics of prompt engineering in a short time. Online platforms like edX offer training courses and certification programs that teach AI skills, including prompt engineering. These courses, such as "Advanced ChatGPT," can help you grasp the fundamentals quickly. Additionally, other institutions and e-learning platforms like Coursera, Google, Microsoft, and LinkedIn also offer online courses for working with generative AI technology.
Q: What job opportunities are available for individuals with prompt engineering skills, and what kind of salaries can they expect?
A: Job opportunities for prompt engineers are in high demand, both in freelance and full-time roles. Freelancers can charge up to $100 for five prompts. Full-time job openings in this field can offer six-figure salaries, with some positions, like the one at Google-backed AI safety startup Anthropic, offering salary ranges of up to $375,000 per year. The demand for AI skills is increasing, with many CEOs and executives seeking employees with these capabilities to stay competitive in the future job market.
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