zero-shot prompting
/ˌzɪəroʊ ʃɒt ˈprɒmptɪŋ/
asking a model to perform a task without giving an example in the prompt
zero-shot prompting in a sentence
“The instruction 'Classify each review as positive or negative' was a zero-shot prompt.”
Origin of zero-shot prompting
Italian zero + English shot attempt + Latin promptus ready
Related Words
few-shot prompting
providing a small number of examples in the prompt to demonstrate the desired behavior
in-context example
a demonstration included in the current input that guides a response without changing the model's parameters
counterexample
an example that disproves a general claim or shows what the desired output must avoid
edge case
an unusual but valid situation near a task's boundaries where normal assumptions may fail
delimiter
a character or marker that clearly separates instructions, examples, or data
prompt template
a reusable prompt structure with placeholders for task-specific information