All possible plots by major authors (2020)

The above was written by hand. As an experiment, I asked Claude to generate a few dozen more. Most weren't great. Here are the highlights:

Michael Crichton:

You're a brilliant scientist who's just created something that will revolutionize the world. Congratulations! It's now trying to eat you.

Michael Crichton:

You've stumbled upon a conspiracy involving [insert scientific field]. Now you're being chased by [insert government agency] while trying to explain complex scientific concepts to the reader.

Suzanne Collins:

You must choose between two brooding love interests while simultaneously overthrowing a totalitarian regime. Priorities!

Stephen King:

Welcome to small-town Maine, where the biggest threat isn't the weather, it's the [insert supernatural horror]. Don't worry, a writer will save the day.

Neil Gaiman:

Mythology crashes into modern life. You're either a god who's fallen on hard times or a regular person about to have a very weird Wednesday.

Margaret Atwood:

Society has taken a slight turn for the worse. Women are now [insert dystopian scenario]. This is definitely not a commentary on current events.

And perhaps my favorite:

George Orwell:

Big Brother is watching you. So is your toaster. And your pet. Trust no one, especially not the pigs.

Out of 30 generations, there were a few more that made me smile, but these were the main ones I enjoyed. Something I've noticed with statistical content generation is that it has a difficult time not being too "on the nose" -- almost like next-token-prediction is making it want to rush and get to the punchline a little too quickly. It has a hard time being subtle, and too often it felt like it was just a glib little summary of a story, rather than a sardonic take-a-step-back-and-look-at-the-big-picture sort of approach.

No major revelations, but just barely interesting enough to warrant commenting here. If there were a Dull Men's Club version of Hacker News, I would have posted this there.