Zero-Shot Prompting

What it is

Zero-shot prompting is asking an AI to perform a task with no examples—just the instruction itself. You rely on the model's pre-trained knowledge to understand and execute the task. Most casual AI use is zero-shot: you describe what you want and hope the model understands.

Why it matters

Zero-shot works for tasks the model was trained to handle. It's faster than preparing examples. However, for unusual tasks, specific formats, or when consistency matters, few-shot prompting often performs better. Knowing when to use each approach improves your results.