Prompt (instructions to an AI)
Japanese プロンプト
A prompt is the instruction and input you send to an AI to say what you want done. How you write it changes the result.
A prompt is the message you send to an AI when you ask it to do something. It is like the order you write for a restaurant. "Something tasty" is vague, but "a spicy soup for two" gets you the dish you wanted. The same goes for text, images and music: say what you want, who it is for and what form it should take, and the result improves.
Watch out What you put in a prompt is sent to the AI service. Check the service's data-use settings and terms before pasting customer details or company secrets. Do not expect a perfect result in one try; look at the output and adjust the instruction a little at a time.
Source: OpenAI, "Prompt engineering"; Anthropic, "Prompt engineering overview"