Daniel Strauss: "A prompt engineer needs patience"

"AI gives us a landscape of possibilities that we didn't have before," says Daniel Strauss. For those getting to grips with AI, this can quickly become overwhelming and frustrating. Strauss therefore advises people to try out a lot when dealing with AI and not to be put off by initial hurdles and poor results: "In prompt engineering, you need staying power." He himself initially studied English and musicology in Berlin. His passion for technology and programming led him to Prompt Engineering - for him, the ideal interface between creativity and technology.

Ethical issues in dealing with AI

Strauss advocates the responsible use of AI: "As a prompt engineer, you are responsible for ensuring the safe use of AI systems." This includes, for example, recognizing misinformation, so-called hallucinations, generated by the AI. However, the misuse of generative AI is also a major issue. "We are at a point where we can no longer say with 100% certainty whether a text was generated by AI or not," says Strauss. This has implications for educational institutions, for example. Strauss advocates completely rethinking education at schools and universities, placing more emphasis on media skills and training pupils and students in the use of AI systems.

Even if there are risks associated with AI, Daniel Strauss is skeptical about the horror scenarios surrounding artificial intelligence. He calls for generative AI to be viewed as a tool. This is when the systems are at their most powerful. "The true potential only unfolds when you create something new with AI," says Strauss. He sees the generation of videos as the next big step. When dealing with deepfakes and fake videos, Strauss sees a challenge for students on media courses: "We also need journalists who are prepared to deal with this topic."  

A detailed interview with Daniel Strauss, in which he also gives tips for young professionals, can be found in the digital magazine Werksgelände.

In the lecture series "Die Medienmacher:innen", communication professionals will report on their professional practice every Wednesday in the winter semester 2023/24 under the direction of Tanja Köhler, Professor of Digital Journalism and Audiovisual Media at H-BRS. The event is not only aimed at students, but at anyone interested in media professions and how they are changing as a result of digitalization.