Gwern.net — Original Fiction

Spoilage, by GPT-5.2 Pro, Claude-4.6-opus, Gwern, Kimi K2.5 Thinking, Gemini-3-pro-preview · Gwern.net

GPT-5.2 Pro, Claude-4.6-opus, Gwern, Kimi K2.5 Thinking, Gemini-3-pro-preview — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

LLM creative writing exercise: Primer fanfic. Claude summary: ‘A startup engineer developing commercial ‘stasis fridges’ discovers, through a miswiring accident, that the device creates closed temporal loops within its operational window (power-on to hard-OFF). He escalates: an apple, then copies of himself sent back to arbitrage bets and bootstrap hardware, finally—in a devastating ending—releases units exhibiting strange unplugged behavior into supply chain, signing off with documentation that seems to have pre-filled itself.’ Discussion of chatbot/AI-slop tendencies.

What Begets the End, by Alexander Wales · Gwern.net

Alexander Wales — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Commissioned short story on the theme of the shoggoth and contemporary AI.

Silver Bird Above San Francisco, by Gwern, Claude-Sonnet-4.5, GPT-5 Pro, Gemini-2.5-pro · Gwern.net

Gwern, Claude-Sonnet-4.5, GPT-5 Pro, Gemini-2.5-pro — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A free-verse ode to aviation’s mundane miracle, using William Carlos Williams’ “so much depends” as structural refrain across six sections—from a torque-spec’d bolt to sleeping passengers to ground observers—culminating in a formally fractured final stanza that breaks the phrase across 17 lines, syntax itself suspended like the plane between blues. (Inspired by a June 2025 flight out of SFO, San Francisco.) Includes bonus Pindarian ode version.

October The First Is Too Late · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 09 May 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Short story about ‘The Institute of September the Thirtieth’, dedicated to the study of a single day in 1939, in the form of a review of a fictional book.

Second Life Sentences · Gwern.net

Gwern — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Variations on the idea of criminals being convicted and sentenced to a ‘second’ life sentence—what could that possibly mean…?

The Diamond Earrings · Gwern.net

Gwern — Tue, 09 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Short story varying ‘The Whispering Earring’ on willpower and Goodharting values.

Epigrams · Gwern.net

Gwern — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Witticisms, parodies, pointed observations, japeries and/or jocularities, Tom Swifties, nominative determinism, and discursive drollery

It Looks Like You’re Trying To Take Over The World · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Fictional short story about Clippy & AI hard takeoff scenarios grounded in contemporary ML scaling, self-supervised learning, reinforcement learning, and meta-learning research literature.

The Gift of the Amygdali · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sun, 29 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0000

A high-concept Batman short story in the style of a 1980s comic book script (alluding to The Wasteland) about the Scarecrow and the gifts no one appreciates: pain/guilt/fear/anxiety.

The Ones Who Walk Towards Acre · Gwern.net

Gwern — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Short story on assassination markets.

The Palace of Wonders · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

A Borgesian fable about the Caliph and the Koran.

The Last Muezzin · Gwern.net

Gwern — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Another tribute to Borges; you can be me when I’m gone.

Men of Iron · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

What-if Chiang-style SF story on iron vanishing and the Great Silence

The Erl King · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Fairy tale tragedy, or, a lesson in courtesy and logic

Two Simple Happenings · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Short story; psychological horror

Gilles Goullet, Author of the Blindsight · Gwern.net

Gwern — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A parody of SF, the Internet, and Borges.

Final Gifts · Gwern.net

Gwern — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A poem for the end of history

Insert, Abort, Retry? · Gwern.net

Gwern — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Fullmetal Alchemist insert meta-fiction

The Safecracker of Hearts · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The thief of time gives us memories, the safecracker of hearts restores them.

The Snowbanks of Time · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Essay on writing waka on truth & lies

Dinosaur Comics comics · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Comics using the format of Ryan North’s Dinosaur Comics

The Buddha’s Wheel · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 00:00:00 +0000

The enlightened is as one with cause and effect.

Missing Cities · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

3 short stories in the style of Italo Calvino’s Missing Cities.

The Case of PenPen · Gwern.net

Gwern — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A parody of Evangelion where PenPen leads Instrumentality.

A Human Story · Gwern.net

Gwern — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The mutability of memory

Cloud Nine · Gwern.net

Gwern — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Unfinished fantasy/SF novel

How the Panther Got Black · Gwern.net

Gwern — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Mythic short story in the vein of Kipling’s Just-so Stories

Before Dawn · Gwern.net

Gwern — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Alliterative verse about staying up all night

The Jaguars of God · Gwern.net

Gwern — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +0000

A dream of a strange judgment day