Lesson 695 of 1455
Few-Shot Prompting: Teaching AI by Showing Examples
Tell AI 'don't do it like this' with a real bad example, and it learns the line you're drawing.
Builders · Prompting · ~24 min read
The big idea
Most people only show AI what they want. Pros also show what they don't want. A 'bad example' next to a 'good example' helps AI see the actual difference, not just guess.
Some examples
- 'GOOD: short and punchy. BAD: long and full of filler. Now write mine.'
- 'Don't write like THIS [boring sample]. Write like THIS [great sample].'
- Pair a cringe Instagram caption with a great one and ask for more like the great one.
- Show two emails — too formal vs. just right — and ask AI to match the right one.
Try it!
Pick a kind of writing you do (texts, captions, essays). Find one bad version and one good version. Paste both into AI with 'avoid the first, mimic the second.' Watch the quality jump.
Practice this safely
Try this with a school, hobby, or family example where the stakes are low. Use the AI output as a draft you can question, not as the final answer.
- 1Ask AI to explain few-shot prompting in plain language, then underline anything that sounds uncertain or too broad.
- 2Give it one detail from "Few-Shot Prompting: Teaching AI by Showing Examples" and ask for two possible next steps plus one reason each step might be wrong.
- 3Check show vs tell against a trusted source, teacher, adult, expert, or original document before you use it.
End-of-lesson quiz
Check what stuck
8 questions · Score saves to your progress.
Lesson help
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