Prompt Engineering for Reliable, Steerable, and Safe Chatbots

Context

You are designing a production-grade chatbot that must be reliable (consistent, correct, verifiable), steerable (follows task, tone, and policy), and safe (respects constraints, avoids harmful outputs). You have a strict two-hour time limit to propose and demonstrate prompt engineering techniques.

Requirements

Discuss and demonstrate the following with concrete prompts and an iteration plan:

1. Message roles: system vs. user (and developer) messages and how to layer them.
2. Few-shot exemplars: when and how to use them; good and bad examples.
3. Function/tool calling: how to route tasks to tools and gate model outputs.
4. Output formatting: enforce structured responses (e.g., JSON schemas) and parsing guardrails.
5. Decoding parameters: temperature and top-p tuning with intuition.
6. Reducing hallucinations: strategies and prompts; handling uncertainty.
7. Handling refusals: policy-driven refusal style and alternatives.
8. Provide ready-to-run prompts and a pragmatic iteration plan for a two-hour timebox.