🎬 "System Prompting" Explained with AI Magic 💥

Hey there, curious coder or AI explorer! Ever wondered how ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and others behave so smartly? No, they don't watch 3 Idiots on loop to get smarter 😜 — the real magic lies in System Prompting and how you talk to them!

In this post, we’ll dive deep (but fun!) into:

• 🧠 What is System Prompting

• 🧩 Different Prompt Formats: Alpaca, ChatML, Inst

• 🧪 Prompting Styles: Zero-shot, Few-shot, Chain-of-thought

• 💩 “Garbage in, garbage out” — Bollywood Edition!

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🎭 What is System Prompting?

Imagine you’re directing a Bollywood film. You're not the hero (the model is). You're the Director (Prompt Engineer) giving instructions.

System Prompting is like giving your star actor (the AI) a backstory, role, and scene setup BEFORE the camera rolls.

For example:

sqlCopyEditSystem: You are now Amitabh Bachchan from Sholay. You answer in poetic Hindi.
User: What’s the weather like in Mumbai?

The result? “Aaj ka mausam, thoda garam hai... jaise Jai aur Veeru ki dosti! ☀️”

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🧱 Popular Prompt Formats (Like Bollywood Scripts 🎬)

🐪 Alpaca Format

Used in Stanford’s Alpaca. Simple instruction-based prompting.

textCopyEdit### Instruction:
Translate this into Hindi: "I love Machine Learning."

### Response:
Main Machine Learning se pyaar karta hoon.

🎬 Think of it as the script of a debut actor. Direct and to the point.

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💬 ChatML Format (Used by OpenAI)

Structured like a conversation with system, user, and assistant.

textCopyEdit<|system|>
You are a wise Bollywood critic.

<|user|>
Why is "Kabir Singh" controversial?

<|assistant|>
"Kabir Singh" is controversial due to its portrayal of toxic masculinity and romantic obsession.

🎥 Like directing a star-studded cast. Roles are defined, and the drama unfolds accordingly!

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🧾 Inst Format (Instruction Format)

Used in models like Vicuna and LLaMA derivatives. More flexible than Alpaca.

jsonCopyEdit{
  "instruction": "Explain Deep Learning using DDLJ references.",
  "input": "",
  "output": "Deep learning is like Raj learning about Simran through layers—train station, mustard fields, and her father's glare."
}

🍿 Model: “Bade bade deshon mein aisi explanations hoti rehti hain.”

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🧠 Types of Prompting Styles (with Bollywood Tadka 🌶️)

1️⃣ Zero-Shot Prompting

You just ask the question. No examples, no setup.

🗣️ Prompt: "Who is the best dancer in Bollywood?"

🤖 Output: “Hrithik Roshan is widely considered among the best.”

🎬 Analogy: Like sending a junior artist on stage with zero rehearsal.

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2️⃣ Few-Shot Prompting

You give a few examples, so the model knows what kind of answer you expect.

🗣️ Prompt:

vbnetCopyEditQ: Who is known as King Khan?
A: Shah Rukh Khan

Q: Who is the Khiladi of Bollywood?
A: Akshay Kumar

Q: Who is the Bhaijaan of Bollywood?
A:

🤖 Output: Salman Khan

🎬 It’s like showing the actor 2-3 scenes before saying “Ab tu kar!”

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3️⃣ Chain-of-Thought Prompting 🧠🧠🧠

Here, you guide the model to “think out loud”. Great for reasoning.

🗣️ Prompt:
"Who is older: Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan? Explain your reasoning."

🤖 Output:

yamlCopyEditAmitabh Bachchan was born in 1942. Shah Rukh Khan was born in 1965. Since 1942 < 1965, Amitabh is older.

🎬 Like giving the scriptwriter a thought process, not just the final punchline.

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🤡 Garbage In, Garbage Out — Bollywood Edition

“Agar prompt hi bekaar hai... toh output kya DDLJ banega?” — Me, just now.

💩 Prompt: “Write movie script”

🤖 Output: “A hero does something. A villain appears. The hero wins.”

😆 It’s like writing “Shahrukh marries” and expecting a YRF blockbuster.

✅ Better Prompt:
“Write a 1-minute suspense scene in a Mumbai train station, where the protagonist finds a briefcase and realizes it belongs to a gangster.”

🎬 Now you’re making a movie!

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🎉 Final Words (And DDLJ Reference. Of Course.)

Prompting is like writing for Bollywood:

• 🎬 Define the scene (system prompt)

• 🎭 Choose the format (ChatML, Alpaca, Inst)

• 🎯 Pick your style (zero-shot, few-shot, chain-of-thought)

• 🧹 Don’t write bekaar prompts (Garbage In, Garbage Out)

Because in the end...

“Prompt sahi ho... toh model bhi keh deta hai, ‘Palat…’ 😍”

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📌 TL;DR

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🧠 Want to Try It Out?

Use tools like:

• OpenAI Playground

• KoboldAI

• LangChain + LLMs in your own apps!

Or better, build your own “ChatGPT with a Bollywood soul”! 💃