Pragmatic Prompt Engineering Is The Missing Factor Tripping Up Those Claiming That AI Only Produces Bland Slop

InnovationAIPragmatic Prompt Engineering Is The Missing Factor Tripping Up Those Claiming That AI Only Produces Bland SlopByLance Eliot,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Dr. Lance B. Eliot is a world-renowned AI scientist and consultant.Follow AuthorJun 15, 2026, 03:15am EDTClaims that AI only produces bland slop are missing out by not using the practical advantages of good prompt engineering.gettyIn today’s column, I examine the major missing factor associated with those who keep doggedly claiming that generative AI and large language models (LLMs) only produce bland or homogenized AI slop.Here’s the deal. All sorts of talking heads keep clamoring that we are stuck with modern-era AI that allegedly only generates averages-based outputs. The assertion is that any outlier or edgy aspects are neglected. Thus, people are being inundated with milquetoast when they ask AI to answer their questions. Study after study continues to affirm this oft-noted contention.As I recently pointed out (see the link here), the problem with all that brazen talk is that the role of prompts and proper prompt engineering is utterly left out of the picture. The usual path is that the AI is allowed to assume its conventional defaults. The experimenter or talking head does nothing of note concerning the prompt that is utilized.There is little doubt and no fisticuffs debate that the default avenue of AI is towards averages-based responses. I’ve emphasized this for several years; see my discussion in 2024 at the link here. This is well-known and understood by those that track the societal impacts of AI. The twist is that you can use proper prompt engineering to steer away from that blandness propensity. A simple analogy is that if you use a car that has extra features that allow it to go faster than normal or drive with greater deftness, and you don’t invoke those features, you are going to get a bland ride. If you drive a thousand times and do not...