AI
Why Prompts Actually Work
•January 2, 2026
Original Description
Day 12/42: What Is a Prompt? (System vs User)
Yesterday, we saw how models learn how to behave.
Today, we talk about how you actually talk to them.
Everything you send to an LLM is part of a prompt.
But not all prompts are equal.
- The system prompt sets the rules and personality.
- The user prompt is your actual question or task.
Both are read together.
The system prompt says how to answer.
The user prompt says what to answer.
Once you see this split, prompt engineering suddenly makes sense.
Missed Day 11? Worth watching.
Tomorrow, we explain how models remember conversations: context windows.
I’m Louis-François, PhD dropout, now CTO & co-founder at Towards AI. Follow me for tomorrow’s no-BS AI roundup 🚀
#PromptEngineering #LLM #AIExplained #short
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