Extract from Cat Casey’s article “GAI in Practice: The Truth About GAI Prompting For Legal”
The secret to getting Generative Artificial Intelligence to work for you!
Let’s clear the air: if you think “prompt engineering” is some sci-fi skill set reserved for hoodie-clad coders, think again. If you’ve ever drafted a targeted RFP, cross-examined a hostile witness, or wrangled three partners’ feedback into a single deck by morning—you’re already halfway to mastering this dark art.
Prompt engineering is where the human mind meets machine logic. It’s not about tricking the model—it’s about briefing it. Persuasively. Precisely. Repeatedly.
Part one broke down What is Generative AI and Why Legal Should Care, this blog goes a level deeper! This section is your behind-the-curtain look at how legal professionals can stop dabbling with AI—and start directing it like a pro.
The Prompt Primer Legal Was Too Polite (or Proud) to Ask For
Here’s the secret sauce: prompting isn’t about knowing Python. It’s about knowing your audience—and when your audience is not the trillion-parameter Large Language model (LLM), what you say (and how you say it) dictates whether you get brilliance… or boilerplate is produced.
