Negative Instructions: Why "Don't" Often Backfires
Article summary
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Every prompt accumulates prohibitions, one incident at a time. They are the weakest instruction form available, for two reasons that have nothing to do with the model being contrary. Two reasons a prohibition is weak A prohibition names an unbounded set. “Do not be verbose” excludes one region of output space and specifies nothing about where to land instead. There are countless compliant continuations and the model picks by likelihood, not by your unstated preference. “Answer in at most two…
1Key Takeaways
- Every prompt accumulates prohibitions, one incident at a time.
- They are the weakest instruction form available, for two reasons that have nothing to do with the model being contrary.
- Two reasons a prohibition is weak A prohibition names an unbounded set.
- “Do not be verbose” excludes one region of output space and specifies nothing about where to land instead.
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3Why it matters
Coding AI shifts how fast software ships and how much human review each change needs. DEV — ML reports that every prompt accumulates prohibitions, one incident at a time.
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