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Zero-Shot Learning

Also known as: Zero-Shot Prompting

In one sentence

Asking an AI model to perform a task without providing any examples—relying entirely on its pre-trained knowledge.

Explain like I'm 12

Like asking someone to do something they've never seen before, without showing them how—they have to figure it out from what they already know.

In context

Simply asking 'Translate this to Spanish: Hello' without examples is zero-shot. The model uses its training to understand the task.

See also

Few-Shot Learning Prompt Training

Related Guides

Learn more about Zero-Shot Learning in these guides:

Prompt Engineering Patterns: Proven Techniques

Master advanced prompting techniques: chain-of-thought, few-shot, role prompting, and more. Get better AI outputs with proven patterns.