[NobleLie]

> expresses instructions

To instruct is akin to providing an input. Where do we input to? The program. The program is programmed; but most importantly, the input is not programmed in the sense the program is programmed. It is, perhaps, thoughfully designed (or not). This role is best described as Prompt Designing or Prompt Engineering, not Prompt "Programming". In any case, it is indeed very important. But in my respectful opinion, it is not programming.

It's kind of like thinking that entering a query into a search engine is programming - a host of techniques can be utilized to optimize how that input effects the output (tomes can be written on this just as they can for LLM prompt design by now).

I can kind of defend that premise but it breaks the meaning of conventional usages, and creates more confusion than it brings clarity.

[ithkuil]

Fwiw the term "prompt engineering" begins as a joke or at the very least half-serious, along the lines of "naming engineer" etc.

But it turns out that a) it's useful to know how to write prompts effectively b) it's time consuming c) it requires skill

So it became more and more an actual thing (discipline?) worth to be taken setiously