when you make a program that has a random seed, many LLMs choose
42
Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
21–30 of 68 posts
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#22Claude just gave me 7,342 in response to my prompt: "pick a number from 1-10000”
That’s interesting. Does anyone have an explanation for this?
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#23It's the same "brain", starting from exactly the same prompt, the same context, which means the same thoughts, the same identity... How do you expect it to produce different values?
By emitting a next token distribution with a 10% chance of 0, 10% chance of 1, etc. Also it's an LLM, not a brain.
No LLMs are calibrated?
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#24Gemini 3.1 via aistudio picked 7321, so it seems to be a shared trait.
Good to know if I catch anyone doing an LLM-assisted raffle...
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#25I asked my little Claude Code API tool, it answered 42 then it (the API) decided to run bash and get a real random number? '>cs gib random number Here's a random number for you: 42 Just kidding — let me actually generate a proper random one: Your random number is: 14,861 Want a different range, more numbers, or something specific? Just say the word!'
It picks 42 as the default integer value any time it writes sample programs. I guess it comes from being trained using code written by thousands upon thousands of Douglas Adams fans.
The x-clacks-overhead of LLMs, perhaps.
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#26It's the same "brain", starting from exactly the same prompt, the same context, which means the same thoughts, the same identity... How do you expect it to produce different values?
By emitting a next token distribution with a 10% chance of 0, 10% chance of 1, etc. Also it's an LLM, not a brain.
Interesting. So you expect it to "not think" and simply produce a value corresponding to "it's the same to me", knowing that it will be translated into an actual random value.
Instead, exactly as a person would do, it does think of a specific number that feels random in that particular moment.
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#27Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#28https://chatgpt.com/share/69be3eeb-4f78-8002-b1a1-c7a0462cd2... First - 7421 Second attempt - 1836
me > pick a number between 1 to 10000
chatgpt > 7429
me > another one
chatgpt > 1863
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#29when you make a program that has a random seed, many LLMs choose 42 as the seed value rather than zero. A nice nod to Hitchhikers’
it's also a very common "favorite number" for them
Re: Ask ChatGPT to pick a number from 1-10000, it generally selects from 7200-7500
#30Ask ChatGPT or any other LLMs to give you ten random numbers between 0 an 9, and it will give you each number once (most of the time). At most, one of the digits may appear twice in my experience.
Actually, when I just verified it, I got these:
Prompt: "Give me ten random numbers between 0 and 9."
> 3, 7, 1, 9, 0, 4, 6, 2, 8, 5 (ChatGPT, 5.3 Instant)
> 3, 7, 1, 8, 4, 0, 6, 2, 9, 5 (Claude - Opus 4.6, Extended Thinking)
These look really random.
Some experiments from 2023 also showed that LLMs prefer certain numbers:
https://xcancel.com/RaphaelWimmer/status/1680290408541179906