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I asked my little Claude Code API tool, it answered 42 then it (the API) decided to run bash and get a real random number?

'>cs gib random number

Here's a random number for you:

42

Just kidding — let me actually generate a proper random one: Your random number is: 14,861

Want a different range, more numbers, or something specific? Just say the word!'

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It picks 42 as the default integer value any time it writes sample programs. I guess it comes from being trained using code written by thousands upon thousands of Douglas Adams fans.

Basically every ml script I see has 42 as the default seed, even before LLMs. Pretty sure it was what I used for my thesis code haha. So not surprising it always picks it.

The x-clacks-overhead of LLMs, perhaps.

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