Temperature
A setting that controls how much randomness a model uses when it picks its next words.
When a model picks its next token, it doesn't always take the single most likely one. A setting called temperature controls how adventurous that choice is: lower keeps it to the safest options, higher lets it pick less likely ones, which reads as more varied or creative.
This is why asking the same question twice can give different wording, and sometimes different facts. The variation is useful as a check. If repeated answers agree, the model is probably on familiar ground; if a name or number changes each time, it's likely guessing. Even at the lowest setting, identical questions can still produce different answers.
For example
Ask for "a name for my bakery" 3 times and you'll get 3 names, which is what you want. Ask for a bank's routing number 3 times, get 3 numbers, and none can be trusted.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet temperature in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
Daily Bytes Plus is in the Android app.