A prompt is the input a user gives a generative AI system, which then responds with an output.
The Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon, a German business encyclopaedia, lists 'query', 'request' and 'instruction' as other words for a prompt. In its study of the opportunities and risks of generative AI models (in German), Germany's Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) uses the term for the text a large language model Large language model A large language model (LLM) is an AI model, trained on large amounts of text, that processes text inputs called prompts and generates text outputs from them. Read in the glossary → processes and explains prompt injection with a hypothetical chatbot whose provider places its own instructions in front of the user's text. Because the model cannot tell the two apart, user input can override the rules set in advance.
The BSI's guidance on AI agents describes a second route: an agent can interpret commands hidden in websites, documents or emails as genuine instructions and carry them out. An application therefore cannot rely on instructions in the prompt alone to enforce its rules.
In our projects, the business rules, including how a prompt is put together, stay inside the client's application rather than in a separate workflow tool. One example is a business application Business application In general terms, a business application is software used to perform or support business functions. Read in the glossary → we built for a pharmaceutical logistics Pharma logistics Pharma logistics is the term we use for storing, transporting and delivering medicinal products and other pharma-sector goods, such as promotional material and supplies for patients. Read in the glossary → company, where the software itself sets the chatbot's rules and builds its prompt in several stages.
Where the term appears
See also
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AI agent
An AI agent is a software system, built on a large language model, that carries out actions on its own and uses interfaces to other programs to reach its goal.
E-commerce
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n8n
n8n is a tool for automating business workflows, including steps that use AI; it is published under fair-code licences and can run on a company's own infrastructure.
E-commerce
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RAG
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a method that lets a generative AI model draw on documents held in a knowledge base and use them to enrich its output.
E-commerce
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Large language model
A large language model (LLM) is an AI model, trained on large amounts of text, that processes text inputs called prompts and generates text outputs from them.
E-commerce
Sources
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Prompt, Autor: Prof. Dr. Oliver Bendel (FHNW) (opens in a new tab)
Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon (Springer Gabler) accessed
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Generative KI-Modelle: Chancen und Risiken für Industrie und Behörden, Version 2.0 vom 17.01.2025 (opens in a new tab)
Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) accessed
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KI-Agenten: Wenn Künstliche Intelligenz selbstständig handelt (Verbraucherseite, ohne Datumsangabe) (opens in a new tab)
Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) accessed