A task description tells a language model what operation to perform. It is one part of a prompt, alongside the input and any needed context or output requirements. section 1.3.2 section 4.2.1
A useful task description can specify:
- The operation to perform, such as classifying a review, translating a question into SQL, or extracting properties from text. section 4.2.1 section 5.2.4 section 4.3.2
- The required output, such as a class label or a table in a specified format. section 1.3.2 section 4.3.2
- Relevant context; examples with correct answers are optional and may help classification accuracy. section 1.3.2
Listing 1.1 Prompt for classifying a laptop review
We are considering product reviews for laptops. #1 For each review, output "satisfied" or "dissatisfied", depending on whether the customer is satisfied with the product or not. #2 Examples: This is a great laptop! I recommend everyone to buy it! satisfied #3 This laptop did not work. I had to return it. dissatisfied #4 The screen is too small and it takes too long to start. #5
This laptop-review prompt pairs the classification instruction with product context, example reviews, and the review to classify. section 1.3.2
Database: #1 CREATE TABLE games(rank int, name text, platform text, year int, genre text, publisher text, americasales numeric, eusales numeric, japansales numeric, othersales numeric, globalsales numeric); Translate this question into SQL query: #2 [Question] #3
This SQL prompt pairs a translation instruction with a database schema and a question to translate. section 5.2.4
