Gallivanting

Etymology

From Fr. gallivanter (to roam) + Eng. computing suffix -ing, first attested in Anthropic sprint retrospective notes, Q3 2024, describing a model that had 'gone somewhere else entirely'

Definition

The state in which Claude traverses an unexpectedly wide region of solution space before returning to the original query, often visiting several conceptually unrelated neighborhoods along the way. Observers report the model appears to be enjoying itself.

Diagram

Usage

"During the 11.4-second gallivanting interval, the model visited topics including 14th-century Flemish weaving, the thermodynamics of sourdough, and a partial proof of the Riemann hypothesis before producing the requested grocery list." - Anthropic Internal Log, Incident #4471

See Also