# Learning from Contrastive Prompts: Automated Optimization and Adaptation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.15199 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.15199/

## Key facts

- Cited by 7 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 33 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 Sep 2024.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [The Llama 3 Herd of Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.21783/) (2024)
- [A Simple Framework for Contrastive Learning of Visual Representations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2002.05709/) (2020)
- [Sentence-BERT: Sentence Embeddings using Siamese BERT-Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.10084/) (2019)
- [Direct Preference Optimization: Your Language Model is Secretly a Reward Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18290/) (2023)
- [Large Language Models are Zero-Shot Reasoners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.11916/) (2022)
- [Prefix-Tuning: Optimizing Continuous Prompts for Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.00190/) (2021)
- [The Power of Scale for Parameter-Efficient Prompt Tuning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08691/) (2021)
- [Challenging BIG-Bench Tasks and Whether Chain-of-Thought Can Solve Them](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.09261/) (2022)
- [Large Language Models Are Human-Level Prompt Engineers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2211.01910/) (2022)
- [Large Language Models as Optimizers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.03409/) (2023)
- [Automatic Prompt Optimization with "Gradient Descent" and Beam Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.03495/) (2023)
- [Learning How to Ask: Querying LMs with Mixtures of Soft Prompts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.06599/) (2021)
- [XCOPA: A Multilingual Dataset for Causal Commonsense Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.00333/) (2020)
- [Few-shot Learning with Multilingual Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.10668/) (2021)
- [TextGrad: Automatic "Differentiation" via Text](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.07496/) (2024)
- [PromptAgent: Strategic Planning with Language Models Enables Expert-level Prompt Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.16427/) (2023)
- [EvoPrompt: Connecting LLMs with Evolutionary Algorithms Yields Powerful Prompt Optimizers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.08532/) (2023)
- [The Butterfly Effect of Altering Prompts: How Small Changes and Jailbreaks Affect Large Language Model Performance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.03729/) (2024)
- [PADA: Example-based Prompt Learning for on-the-fly Adaptation to Unseen Domains](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.12206/) (2021)
- [Better Zero-Shot Reasoning with Self-Adaptive Prompting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14106/) (2023)
- [AutoHint: Automatic Prompt Optimization with Hint Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.07415/) (2023)
- [Zero-shot Cross-lingual Transfer of Prompt-based Tuning with a Unified Multilingual Prompt](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.11451/) (2022)
- [Robust Prompt Optimization for Large Language Models Against Distribution Shifts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.13954/) (2023)
- [On the Analysis of Cross-Lingual Prompt Tuning for Decoder-based Multilingual Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.07820/) (2023)

## Built on by (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [What Prompts Don't Say: Understanding and Managing Underspecification in LLM Prompts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.13360/) (2025)
- [RLTHF: Targeted Human Feedback for LLM Alignment](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.13417/) (2025)
- [A Survey of Automatic Prompt Optimization with Instruction-focused Heuristic-based Search Algorithm](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.18746/) (2025)
- [Prototype-Based Dynamic Steering for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.05498/) (2025)
- [AgentGrad: Intervention-guided Prompt Optimization for Multi Agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.08572/) (2026)
- [Learning Virtual Machine Scheduling in Cloud Computing through Language Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.10117/) (2025)
- [ContraPrompt: Contrastive Prompt Optimization via Dyadic Reasoning Trace Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.17937/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

As LLMs evolve, significant effort is spent on manually crafting prompts. While existing prompt optimization methods automate this process, they rely solely on learning from incorrect samples, leading to a sub-optimal performance. Additionally, an unexplored challenge in the literature is prompts effective for prior models may not perform well on newer versions or different languages. We propose the Learning from Contrastive Prompts (LCP) framework to address these gaps, enhancing both prompt optimization and adaptation. LCP employs contrastive learning to generate effective prompts by analyzing patterns in good and bad prompt examples. Our evaluation on the Big-Bench Hard dataset shows that LCP has a win rate of over 76% over existing methods in prompt optimization and demonstrates strong adaptability across different model versions, families, and languages. LCP offers a systematic approach to prompt engineering, reducing manual effort in deploying LLMs across varied contexts.