Examples and Few-shot
Examples show the model what “good” looks like when instructions alone are too abstract.
Examples show the model what “good” looks like when instructions alone are too abstract.
A representative case.
The desired response pattern.
More than one example prevents overfitting to wording.
Understand the working model
Few-shot prompting is useful for classification, extraction, tone and formatting. Pick examples that cover important edge cases instead of many nearly identical examples.
Examples are instructions too. If an example contains a mistake or inconsistent format, the model may copy that pattern. Review examples as carefully as the prompt itself.
Practice
Apply the pattern above to one real task you already do. Keep the first version small enough that you can inspect every input and output.
Do not use examples that contradict your written constraints.
Use a small set of clean, representative examples when you need the model to imitate a pattern.