Temperature — safe vs creative

You turned temperature from safer to wilder and watched next-token choices change. Low = stick to likely words. High = more variety (and more weirdness).

At every step the model ranks possible next tokens. Temperature reshapes those odds:

• Safer — strong favorites win more often (good for facts, formats, code)
• Wilder — underdogs get a bigger chance (good for brainstorms, flavors, stories)

Wild ≠ wiser. It just means “less stuck on the most common path.”

• Low/safe: summarize a policy, write a checklist, draft formal email
• Higher: name ideas, metaphor brainstorms, playful rewrites

Do not crank temperature hoping for more accurate science or legal advice. Creativity and correctness are different jobs.

Ask for five product names twice — once careful, once wild. Notice which list you’d show a client vs a brainstorm board.