Cognitive-communicative strategies of prompt engineering in contemporary human-machine interaction discourse

Abstract

This research explores the evolution of prompt engineering a technical necessity into a sophisticated linguistic competence within the landscape of contemporary human-machine interaction. By analysing the hybrid nature of Generative AI discourse, the study demonstrates how traditional pragmatic postulates, such as Grice`s maxims, undergo significant transformation to accommodate algorithmic constraints. Key cognitive-communicative strategies, including persona adoption and chain-of-thought prompting, are examined to illustrate their role in guiding the model`s semantic processing and output accuracy. The discussion further addresses the sociolinguistic aspects of AI anthropomorphisation and the pedagogical value of integrating prompt engineering into English for Specific Purposes (ESP) frameworks. Ultimately, the paper defines prompt engineering as a burgeoning genre of computer-mediated discourse that requires a unique synthesis of logical structuring and linguistic precision.