Step-back prompting is a technique within the larger context of Prompt Engineering aimed at improving the performance of Large Language Models (LLMs)**. In the broader field of prompt engineering, which involves crafting effective prompts to guide LLMs, step-back prompting offers a strategy to elicit more accurate and insightful responses.
Here’s what the sources say about step-back prompting:
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Definition and Purpose: Step-back prompting involves prompting the LLM to first consider a general question related to the specific task at hand. The answer to this general question is then fed into a subsequent prompt for the specific task. This initial “step back” allows the LLM to activate relevant background knowledge and reasoning processes before attempting to solve the specific problem.
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Mechanism: By prompting the LLM to think about broader and underlying principles, step-back prompting enables it to generate more accurate and creative responses. It encourages the LLM to think critically and apply its knowledge in novel ways. This technique effectively utilizes more knowledge within the LLM’s parameters than would typically be accessed when prompted directly.
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Benefits:
- Improved Accuracy and Insight: Considering general principles helps LLMs generate more accurate and insightful responses.
- Enhanced Reasoning: The step-back allows for the activation of broader reasoning processes.
- Mitigation of Biases: By focusing on general principles instead of specific details, step-back prompting can help to mitigate biases in LLM responses.
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Example: The sources provide an example related to writing a storyline for a level of a first-person shooter video game.
- Traditional Prompt: A direct prompt asks the model to “Write a one paragraph storyline for a new level of a first-person shooter video game that is challenging and engaging”. The output of this traditional prompt might be creative but also random and generic.
- Step-back Prompt: The step-back prompt first asks: “Based on popular first-person shooter action games, what are 5 fictional key settings that contribute to a challenging and engaging level storyline in a first-person shooter video game?“. This prompts the model to think about general engaging themes.
- Final Prompt with Context: The answer from the step-back prompt (e.g., “Abandoned Military Base”) is then included as context in the original prompt: “Context: 5 engaging themes for a first person shooter video game: 1. Abandoned Military Base: A sprawling, post-apocalyptic military complex crawling with mutated soldiers and rogue robots, ideal for challenging firearm combat. … Write a one paragraph storyline for a new level of a first-person shooter video game that is challenging and engaging”. This leads to a more focused and relevant storyline.
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Relation to Other Techniques: Step-back prompting is one of several prompting techniques discussed in the sources, alongside zero-shot, one-shot & few-shot, system, contextual, role, Chain of Thought (CoT), Self-consistency, Tree of Thoughts (ToT), ReAct, Automatic Prompt Engineering, and Code prompting. It serves as a method to enhance the effectiveness of prompts when direct prompting might not fully leverage the LLM’s knowledge.
In summary, step-back prompting is a valuable technique in the prompt engineering toolkit. It emphasizes the importance of guiding the LLM to first consider a broader context or related general principles before tackling a specific task. This strategic “step back” can lead to more reasoned, accurate, and insightful outputs by better activating the LLM’s pre-trained knowledge.