AI Time Travelers: Prompt Engineering for History

AI Time Travelers: Prompt Engineering for History

By Shelby Ward

History needs your help!

​Solving the Past with the Technology of the Future

You are an "AI Prompt Engineer" sent back in time.

Your Job: A famous American is stuck. They have a huge problem, and they need you to use the AI to find a solution.

The Catch: If your prompt is bad, the AI gives bad advice, and history changes forever!

Perfect Prompts

Use C.R.E.D.

Character: Who should the AI pretend to be?

Request: What exactly do you need?

Examples/Details: Give the AI context or data.

Delivery: How should the answer look? (A list, a letter, a speech?)

EXAMPLE–Crossing the Delaware (1776)

• The Character: George Washington.

• The Problem: It’s Christmas night. It’s freezing, your soldiers are losing hope, and there is a massive river full of ice between you and the enemy.

• The Goal: You need to convince your men to get into the boats and row across the river in total silence.

EXAMPLE–Crossing the Delaware (1776)

Bad prompt: Write a motivational speech to get people in a boat

Example Prompt:
C: You are George Washington.
R: Write a short speech to your soldiers.
E: Mention the ice in the river and the fight for freedom.
D: Make it under 100 words so it’s quick.

Mission #1–Lewis and Clark (1805)

• The Character: Captain Meriwether Lewis.

• The Problem: You are about to lead the "Corps of Discovery" into the unknown West. There are no grocery stores, no paved roads, and no pharmacies for the next 2,000 miles.

• The Goal: You need a "Survival Packing List." If you forget one thing (like salt, gunpowder, or trade goods), the whole mission fails.

Open Ended

Use C.R.E.D. to write a prompt for a Must-Have Supply List for Lewis and Clark

Mission #2 – The Oregon Trail (1848)

The Character: A Wagon Master (The leader of the group).

The Problem: Your wagon train has reached the "Big Blue River." The water is high. If you wait, you’ll run out of food. If you cross, you might sink.

The Goal: You need a step-by-step safety plan for crossing the river with 20 wagons and 50 oxen.

Open Ended

Use C.R.E.D. to write a prompt for a "River Crossing Safety Guide."

Mission #3–The Gettysburg Address (1863)

• The Character: President Abraham Lincoln.
  

• The Problem: You are standing on a battlefield where thousands of soldiers just died. You have to give a speech, but you only have about 2 minutes to talk. People are sad, angry, and tired of the war.
  

• The Goal: You need to remind everyone why the United States is worth fighting for and that "a government of the people, by the people, for the people" should not disappear.

Open Ended

Use C.R.E.D. to write a prompt for a Speech by President Lincoln

Open Ended

• Which part of C.R.E.D. was the hardest to come up?

• If you changed the D (Delivery) to a "Funny Poem" instead of a "Serious Speech," would the response still solve the Lincoln problem? Why or why not?