New Race in AI: Tech Giants Compete in Generative-AI Tools
In the rapidly evolving world of artificial intelligence, a new race is on, with tech giants vying to demonstrate their prowess in the creation of generative-AI tools. The recent success of OpenAI's ChatGPT, which has amassed more than 30 million users in two months, has sent a clear signal to the tech community that deep-learning networks are the next frontier of the commercial internet.
The Vital Skill of the 21st Century: Talking to Machines
One of the most vital skills in the 21st century may well be the ability to talk to machines, a process which involves writing effective prompts. While image and text-generating models such as DALL-E 2 and Midjourney are marketed as a means of creation, users must know how to guide the machines to achieve their desired outcomes.
The Emerging Cottage Industry of Prompt Engineers
The creation of good prompts requires not just specificity, but a deeper understanding of the model being manipulated. A cottage industry has already emerged around those who can speak the language of machines, with PromptBase being one of the most popular marketplaces for prompt engineers.
The Art of Prompt Engineering: A Human Touch in AI
Dimi Vetrasky, a writer who uses AI tools in her spare time, likens prompt engineering to crafting a persuasive essay: "Very difficult. Mostly failure. And sheer joy when the words come together to make something that looks a little like the world you see in your head." She stresses the importance of knowing the model being used, which has unique aesthetics and vernacular, much like regional dialects and cultural quirks.
A Bridge to the Brave New World of Generative-Media Landscape
Prompt engineering may well be a placeholder until AI can synthesize what we want from bare-bone prompts or other, unknown means. But for now, it remains a bridge to the brave new world of generative-media landscape that lies ahead. Prompt engineering is a new and exciting form of thinking that lies somewhere between conversation and query, between programming and prose. It is the one part of the uncertain future of AI that feels distinctly human.
