Author
Contributions by role
Author 1
Zhangqi Liu
Brown University
Summary
Edited Journals
ICCK Contributions

Open Access | Review Article | 14 September 2025
Reinforcement Learning for Prompt Optimization in Language Models: A Comprehensive Survey of Methods, Representations, and Evaluation Challenges
ICCK Transactions on Emerging Topics in Artificial Intelligence | Volume 2, Issue 4: 173-181, 2025 | DOI: 10.62762/TETAI.2025.790504
Abstract
The growing prominence of prompt engineering as a means of controlling large language models has given rise to a diverse set of methods, ranging from handcrafted templates to embedding-level tuning. Yet, as prompts increasingly serve not merely as input scaffolds but as adaptive interfaces between users and models, the question of how to systematically optimize them remains unresolved. Reinforcement learning, with its capacity for sequential decision-making and reward-driven adaptation, has been proposed as a possible framework for discovering effective prompting strategies. This survey explores the emerging intersection of RL and prompt engineering, organizing existing research along three... More >

Graphical Abstract
Reinforcement Learning for Prompt Optimization in Language Models: A Comprehensive Survey of Methods, Representations, and Evaluation Challenges