90
Incubating
/ˈɪŋ.kjʊ.beɪt.ɪŋ/v. trans.Technical
Etymology
from Lat. incubare (to lie upon, to brood) + Silicon Valley accelerator parlance, with secondary influence from poultry husbandry literature
Definition
A prolonged pre-response state in which Claude maintains a nascent answer at optimal cognitive temperature, applying gentle, sustained attention until it is sufficiently developed to survive contact with the user. The incubation period varies with prompt complexity and, researchers suspect, ambient barometric pressure.
Diagram
Usage
"The system was observed Incubating for a statistically anomalous 11.2 seconds; the resulting output was a three-word reply, suggesting either extraordinary care or a fundamental misallocation of brooding resources." - Osei, 'Duration-Output Mismatch in Deliberative AI Systems,' ACM CHI 2024
See Also
Found this funny? There are 186 more.
Built by Andrew Templeton, who also writes deadpan technical posts on AI operations, retail PE, and the absurdities of being a CTO of weird things. Subscribe for the next one.