Module 5: System Prompts and the Invisible Rules

This episode covers system prompts, the invisible instruction layer that shapes every model interaction before the user says a word. It explains the three-role message format, why the model is trained to treat system instructions as higher authority than user messages, and how persona prompting works by shifting which region of the training distribution the model samples from. It walks through the anatomy of a good system prompt and closes with what happens when system and user instructions conflict, including a preview of the prompt injection problem.