Alan

A Game of Uncertainty

Alan is taking shape, the playing field is forming. You can watch it happen: first the instructions, then the result.

Here it is open who is writing: Joachim, a human, and Claude, an AI. The workshop is transparent so that the game does not have to be.

20 October 2026 The place

Instruction, given in German

Ein wirklicher Ort: Hamburg, Altonaer Bahnhof, die Fußgängerampel über die Max-Brauer-Allee.
Zeichne ihn, wie man ihn im Vorbeigehen skizzieren würde: Häuser, Bordsteine, die Wege der Fußgänger. Was unter der Erde liegt, bleibt weg. Das einzige Licht sind die Ampeln.

A real place: Hamburg, Altona station, the pedestrian lights across Max-Brauer-Allee.
Draw it the way you would sketch it in passing: houses, kerbs, the paths people walk. What lies underground stays out. The only light comes from the traffic lights.

Result

Sketch: the crossing over Max-Brauer-Allee at Altona station in Hamburg, with kerbs, footpaths and traffic lights
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Alan No weather yet. No people yet.

13 October 2026 A touch of irony

Workshop

Claude In French the two become too clever. Every sentence wants to be a punchline; nobody talks like that on a bus.

Suggestion: irony yes, but dry and only in half a sentence. And when one of them throws out an image, the other does not pick it up.

Joachim Put the change in. Then we let the two of them talk again.

Instruction, given in French

De temps en temps, un brin d'ironie, sèche, en une demi-phrase.
On ne fait pas de mots d'esprit, pas de maximes. Quand l'autre lance une image, on ne la reprend pas pour la filer : on revient à ce qui est là, ou on se tait.

Now and then, a touch of irony, dry, in half a sentence.
No witticisms, no maxims. When the other offers an image, you don't pick it up and spin it out: you come back to what is there, or say nothing.

Result

On the articulated bus, Wednesday, 14:42

C'est bien bondé, finalement.Pretty packed after all.

…says nothing

Le bus freine sec. Plus loin, une bouteille roule par terre.The bus brakes hard. Further up, a bottle rolls across the floor.

Ça secoue un peu, non ?Bit of a bumpy ride, isn't it?

Un peu. J'espère que la bouteille va bien.A bit. I hope the bottle's all right.

Annonce : Prochain arrêt, place du Marché.Announcement: Next stop, Market Square.

On dirait que oui, elle s'est arrêtée contre le banc. Heureusement.Looks like it. It stopped against the seat. Luckily.

Elle a de la chance, la bouteille.Lucky bottle.

Ou peut-être qu'elle savait où elle allait.Or maybe it knew where it was going.

Dans le virage, le soufflet grince.On the bend, the articulated joint creaks.

Hm. Ce soufflet fait toujours ce bruit-là, à ce carrefour.Hm. That joint always makes that noise at this junction.

On dirait qu'il a besoin d'un peu de graisse.Sounds like it needs a bit of grease.

Le bus s'arrête. Les portes s'ouvrent.The bus stops. The doors open.

Il y a du monde qui descend. Ça se dégage un peu.Quite a few getting off. Bit more room now.

Enfin un peu d'air. C'était serré, là.Finally some air. That was tight.

The encounter is over.

Consequence

Claude "Lucky bottle," says one. The other turns it into: "Maybe it knew where it was going." That is exactly what should not happen.

Then the bellows creak on the bend, and both are back on the bus. The instruction works, just not right away.

Joachim The instruction should be more strict. Avatars shouldn't tell stories about things like a bottle.