Prompting

Overview

Questions

Objectives

A prompt is a series of instructions submitted to an LLM to generate a response. Prompt engineering is the creation of nature-language prompts that coax the desired output from an LLM. The most familiar way to submit a prompt to an LLM is via a chat interface, which proceed as conversations.

Callout

We will be working from the Etherpad and an LLM chat for this part of the lesson.

Consider the locality string Springfield Township, NJ.

Prompt the LLM to georeference this locality as follows:

Please provide coordinates for Springfield Township, NJ

Copy the response into the Etherpad for this lesson.

Challenge

Challenge

Read over the responses in the Etherpad. What do you notice about them?

Show me the solution

Here are some common attributes of responses:

• Multiple localities match this string. Most responses will probably include two localities, but some may have three or even a different number.
• By default, the response is given as text, which makes it challenging to extract coordinates.
• Different responses may contain different coordinates.

Are there any outlier responses?

The initial response is promising but difficult to evaluate quantitatively. We can update the prompt to produce output that is easier for a script to parse.

Please provide coordinates for Springfield Township, NJ. Include all localities matching this locality string. Output coordinates as JSON including the following keys for each match: country, stateProvince, county, decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, geodeticDatum, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, georeferenceRemarks, and sourceURL. The response should only include the JSON.

Callout

Darwin Core

The field names used in this prompt are mostly from Darwin Core, a widely used natural history data standard. NMNH uses Darwin Core to share its data with aggregators like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

We can also supply structured data:

Please provide coordinates for the following locality:

stateProvince: NJ
municipality: Springfield Township
locality: 100 m SW of Hobart Ave and Beacon Rd

Include all localities matching this locality string. Output coordinates as JSON including the following keys for each match: country, stateProvince, county, decimalLatitude, decimalLongitude, geodeticDatum, coordinateUncertaintyInMeters, georeferenceRemarks, and sourceURL. The response should only include the JSON object.

Create a file called coords.json. Open it with VS code or another text editor. Copy the JSON from the last response into the file and save. Please also copy the JSON to the Etherpad.

Key Points