How Your Prompts Lead AI Astray

Prompt bias in AI arises from the way users phrase prompts, which can unconsciously skew the model's responses. This bias can reduce the quality of AI-driven decisions and analyses by reinforcing prejudices and missing relevant perspectives. Common biases include majority label, selection, anchoring, recency, formatting, and positional biases, especially in few-shot prompting. To mitigate these issues, users should check their phrasing, balance examples, use neutral prompts, ask for reasoning, and experiment with different approaches. Recognizing and limiting bias is crucial for leveraging AI effectively and ethically.