In Edward Chang's article "Prompting Large Language Models With the Socratic Method," he explores a way to communicate effectively with advanced computer systems like GPT-3 using a method inspired by the Socratic questioning technique.​1 ​​2 Chang explains how using the Socratic method helps guide LLMs to provide specific and helpful responses for a variety of tasks like answering questions, summarising documents, and translating text.​3​

One particularly useful, but perhaps unsurprising, insight of Chang's is that by making clear the goal of a task, and what the prompter hopes to obtain, before starting a dialogue, produces better performance by the LLM. The system both seems to understand the context better and provides more effective responses​.4

Chang demonstrates how one particular aspect the Socratic method, namely focussed questioning, "holds great potential for developing effective prompting strategies".  Chang then goes on to demonstrate how "the Socratic method can be utilized to its full potential in guiding, directing, and improving the output of language models through engineering prompts".

This is a technical paper, which may make it difficult reading for lawyers, in some parts. But the effectiveness of the Socratic method is in prompt engineering should be of interest to lawyers. Whether we realise it or not, lawyers often use the Socratic method, especially in legal education where it is used to foster critical thinking and analytical skills. But we also use these skills daily in practice, formulating probing questions to examine the logic of their arguments and explore different perspectives. Elements of the Socratic method are seen when lawyers engage in questioning witnesses, opposing counsel, or even when framing arguments in court.

Our hands on experience with the  Socratic method in practice, also makes us well-equipped to interact with these advanced computer systems. Our training in questioning and dialogue to uncover information and promote critical thinking fits well with the method of guiding these systems to provide useful responses. So it turns out that legal education and experience uniquely qualifies us to create effective communication templates with these cutting edge systems.

You can delve deeper into this topic by reading the full article here.