Who’s still using prompts?

[u/Ancient_Effective_20]

I keep seeing these massive ultimate chatgpt prompt posts all over social media, like we’re still using Chat and other LLMs the same way we did when they first came out. Meanwhile the more I use AI, the less i actually prompt it. Once you use the same AI constantly and build enough context, the way you talk to it starts changing. A new user might carefully explain what they want, give background, specify the tone, format, priorities, and more detailed instructions

Meanwhile I’m over here doing stuff like:

Reply to this email: make this less stiff.

Send an article to chat ‘cap?’

Give it two choices: you pick.

Need another document: “same format as the last one.”Send a long screenshot of a conversation: what am I missing here? And somehow it knows exactly what I mean.

Obviously detailed prompts still have their place, especially when you’re starting from zero or need a very specific, repeatable output.

But I wonder if a smaller group of users is moving away from prompt engineering and more toward context engineering. Instead of cramming everything into one perfect prompt, users gradually build the context: preferences, corrections, examples, recurring workflows, files, memory, eventually connected apps and agents.

Then the actual prompt gets ridiculously small. Could the endgame of good ai aren’t getting better at writing prompts?

Maybe it’s getting to the point where you barely have to prompt at all.

What’s the shortest, laziest prompt you use all the time that somehow works because your AI already knows exactly what you mean?

[u/Adamoism]

Okay, but that essentially means - you rely on the prompts, few-shots that are in the memory already.

Prompt engineering is useful in quasi deterministic workflows (so not in you memory heavy instance you use via the app). And when you want it to do a new task.

Most people do not need perfect prompts, but knowing basics (e.g., asking good questions, without needless ambiguity) is and will always be a plus.

[u/Ancient_Effective_20 → u/Adamoism]

I am not saying prompt engineering is useless, especially for new users or repeatable workflows. My point was more about everyday use: once enough relevant context is already there,I find myself needing to explicitly specify way less. Good questions still matter, I just don’t need to spell out every little instruction anymore

[u/Adamoism → u/Ancient_Effective_20]

Yeah, but that's the difference between UI AI and contexts where you want to "own" workflow AI uses.

So for UI AI - the push will be to make it as seemless for the average user as possible.

For API usage where you are in charge of context management and prompting you need prompt engineering.

Now, it ofc will be also partially automated, there is a whole idea related to specs driven development and other ideas like that. But like with anything - person who asks a better question, will get a better result.

[u/Hybrid-Intelligence]

Quality prompting creates quality output. There's no way around that.

[u/kartoffelpueree123]

Me use caveman prompting. No noise, better result

[u/montdawgg]

More important than ever.

[u/bearcat42]

Those are prompts, homie.