In recent years, nonâlinear optical phenomena have attracted much attention, with a particular focus on the engineering and exploitation of nonâlinear responses. Comparatively little study has, however, been devoted to the driving fields that generate these responses. This work demonstrates that the relationship between a driving field and the optical response it induces is nonâunique. Using a generic model for a strongly interacting system, it is shown that multiple candidate driving field exists, which will all generate the same response. Consequently, it is possible to show that the optical response is not sufficient to determine the internal dynamics of the system, and that different solutions for the driving field will do different amounts of work on a system. Physically, the work done indicates the energy absorbed by the system from the field and will therefore correspond to modifying the absorption spectrum of the material. This nonâuniqueness phenomenon may be further utilized to engineer thermodynamically efficient system states without modifying its optical response.