What is temperature in ai models?
When working with AI systems like ChatGPT, there’s a critical behind-the-scenes setting that dramatically influences the content you receive: temperature. Think of temperature as the creativity dial for AI – but what exactly does adjusting this setting do to your outputs?
In the world of artificial intelligence, temperature doesn’t refer to how warm your computer gets. Instead, it controls how predictable or surprising the AI’s responses will be. Set at 0, the AI becomes highly focused and consistent. Crank it up to 1, and you’ll get more creative, varied, and sometimes unexpected results.
Makes sense? It should do – after all, those first two paragraphs were actually the work of Claude 3.7 Sonnet, and it knows a thing or two about these things. More specifically, it was all the work of Claude 3.7 Sonnet with its temperature dialled right up to 1.
Now I wouldn’t normally get an AI to help me write a blog in this way, but I thought it would be an interesting way to start testing temperature. And I did that by feeding the same prompt – asking it to write a blog intro – to Sonnet, but using a different temperature each time: 0, 0.5, and 1.
What do these temperature numbers mean?
Well, with Claude models, the temperature range runs from the least creative (Temp 0) to the most creative (Temp 1), with the opportunity to set the temperature incrementally more creative – 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 etc – along the way.
So here’s a bit more from the same intro (and from now on I’ll italicise the AI writing), but with the temperature set at Temp 0.5:
Think of temperature in AI models as similar to the temperature dial on your oven. Set it too low, and your creation might be underdone and predictable. Set it too high, and things might get wildly unpredictable. Finding that sweet spot depends entirely on what you’re trying to achieve.
Which all flows quite nicely, doesn’t it? It’s not a big change from the first couple of paragraphs (Temp 1), and in some ways the nice simile about the temperature dial on an oven is weirdly more creative. On the other hand it does leave out some of the slightly more interesting words and phrases – like ‘crank it up’.
In fact, it’s only really when you go to Temp 0 that you notice the biggest change, with the AI beginning to slip into no-human-would-speak-like-that mode:
As brands and marketers increasingly incorporate AI into their content strategies, understanding these fundamental settings becomes not just technical knowledge, but a competitive advantage.
And so on.
And that in a nutshell is what we mean by the temperature of an AI model: the higher the temperature of an AI model, the more creative its outputs will be – and not just in its use of language, but in the ideas it generates and everything else besides.
You might have never used the temperature slider before or perhaps even known it was there. But there’s no doubt it makes a difference.
So, while writing intros is straightforward enough, we wanted to know what impact a change of temperature would have on more creative tasks. So we found out.
Test 1 – Claude 3.7 Sonnet
Advise a retailer how to get more reach on social media
How does a change in temperature impact the way an AI model responds to a problem-solving and strategy exercise? We set Claude 3.7 Sonnet at three different temps and tested just that, prompting it to advise us on how to boost our social media reach for a hypothetical retailer specialising in hats, aimed at the 20-35 demographic.
Here’s what we found:
Temp 0
As you would expect, when Claude’s temperature was dialled down to zero, the recommendations came through clear, manageable and crisply segmented – but with little risk.
The AI advised us to prioritise Instagram and TikTok, use micro-influencers, adopt trend-responsive content, and make strong use of hashtags and interactive engagement. The AI clearly structured everything: platform suggestions, content strategies, engagement tips, and even included clear ways to convert viewers into shoppers (shoppable posts, limited-time promotions). But the language? Boring. And the ideas? Just as boring.
As part of the content strategy, it told us we should focus on:
– **User-Generated Content**: Encourage customers to share photos wearing your hats with a branded hashtag
For ‘Engagement tactics’, it suggested we create:
– **Behind-the-Scenes Content**: Show your design process and company culture
And for ‘Conversion optimisation’, it said we should use:
– **Shoppable Posts**: Tag products directly in posts for easy purchasing
Yawn.
Conclusion: In many ways it felt like asking an efficient marketing manager for their tried-and-true recommendations – solid advice, well-delivered, but nothing especially surprising.
Temp 0.5
When nudging Claude up into a more balanced setting, you can instantly see it start warming up to the task. The core advice – Instagram and TikTok prioritisation, influencer partnerships and interactive stories – remained consistent, but the approach grew richer, more nuanced, and slightly more adventurous.
For example, Temp 0.5 suggested specific follower ranges for influencers (50K-200K), talked about collaborating with complementary brands (such as sunglasses and jewellery), and provided concrete advice on A/B testing captions – adding a really helpful analytical dimension.
It also gave more creative ideas for user generated content, such as:
Create a branded hashtag challenge encouraging customers to style your hats in unique ways.
Which was nice.
Conclusion: With the temperature in the middle, we got suggestions that didn’t just feel methodical; they’re more thoughtful and human, carving out room for both steady growth and meaningful experimentation. On the downside, they still feel pretty safe.
Temp 1
Here was the biggest surprise: with the creativity turned right up, Claude’s recommendations actually remained surprisingly structured. Where it pushed the boat out (slightly) was around content ideas and campaign specifics – encouraging us to produce seasonal, thematic content campaigns targeted around festival seasons or trending fashion hashtags, alongside hosting regular styling competitions on Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Notably, at Temp 1, Claude actively reached beyond the usual platforms, suggesting a supplementary Pinterest strategy using shoppable pins. There was also a stronger focus on customer interaction, with this suggestion for our social strategy:
**Community building**: Engage authentically with comments within 24 hours and feature customer content weekly
Conclusion: Interestingly, even at maximum creativity, Claude 3.7 Sonnet kept things manageable and clear. It was slightly more creative, but not startlingly so, relative to Temp 0.5.
Which is more than can be said for our next test…
Test 2 – Chat GPT-4.5*
Design an ad campaign for Definition AI
*Just a quick note on ChatGPT before we begin. While Anthropic’s Claude models only allow you to toggle the temperature between 0 and 1 – and therefore the difference between the two ends of the spectrum isn’t necessarily huge, as we’ve seen – OpenAI are much more Spinal Tap about the whole thing, inviting you to whack their models right up to 2 if you’re feeling adventurous (and literally any fraction in between).
However. If our test is anything to go by, what you’ll get back if you turn the temp up to 2 is line after line of total gibberish. This kind of thing:
Looks daunting to haveChatbit clamp Verify translation/tasks monstr.~ Ahmedabadvan tł competencia emergedể agrन 제조Populateionali rápidas ús enth Korea tricks put镇 ntajour.
And that was the most readable bit.
So knowing this, we tested ChatGPT-4.5 at Temps 0, 0.75 and 1.5 instead, intrigued about what we might find.
And to get its cogs working, we tasked it with a nice juicy bit of creative strategy work. We prompted it to design a series of concepts for a marketing campaign – including straplines – to advertise our own private AI environment, Definition AI, using the overall concept of ‘the poetry of machinery’.
Here’s what happened.
Temp 0
Temp 0 came up with four concept ideas, including the lyrically named The Poetry of Precision. The core idea behind this concept was to:
highlight the elegance and beauty inherent in the precise, calculated creativity of Definition AI. Emphasize how the AI suite transforms data and algorithms into artful, impactful marketing.
This concept came with three potential straplines:
- Precision Engineered Creativity
- Where Algorithms Write Poetry
- Crafted by Code, Inspired by Imagination
As with Claude’s outputs, you can see at Temp 0 that the ideas are restrained and the language safe but clunky. And the same goes for the overall visual and tonal approach, with Temp 0 suggesting:
– Visually, the campaign could blend mechanical imagery (gears, circuits, code) with artistic elements (paint strokes, poetry, film reels), creating a striking juxtaposition that captures the essence of “the poetry of machinery.”
– Tonally, the language will be poetic yet accessible, using rhythmic, evocative phrasing that highlights the beauty and elegance of technology-driven creativity.
Conclusion: As expected, solid but unspectacular. With the temperature down so low we find long, clumsy sentences and safe creative choices.
Temp 0.75
At this temperature, we got an output with three key concepts, each including their own imagery and tone guides. Interestingly the first concept was also called The Poetry of Precision – but the core idea, the imagery and the suggested straplines seemed much more imaginative in their scope and much more playful in their language than at Temp 0:
Emphasizing the seamless blend of creativity and precision, Definition AI is presented as a poetic interpreter of data and ideas—capturing the rhythm of thought, the meter of insight, and the rhyme of innovation. Every creative output is precise yet fluid, mechanical yet lyrical.
**Imagery & Tone:**
– Visual juxtaposition of engineered objects (gears, circuits, machinery) presented poetically—graceful movement and rhythmic motion.
– Soft, cinematic lighting, highlighting elegance in machinery.
– Copy that finds human warmth in mechanical efficiency.
**Suggested Straplines:**
– “Every Pixel, a Poem.”
– “Engineering Creativity, Verse by Verse.”
– “Precision Crafted Creativity.”
It was also clear in the two other concepts – The Beauty of the Machine Mind and Mechanically Inspired – that the AI was working with more creative edge than when using temp 0, while still remaining structured.
Conclusion: With temp 0.75, ChatGPT-4.5 moved away from the safe but mechanical ideas and language of Temp 0 to a more imaginative, more creative style, all without compromising on accuracy.
Temp 1.5
Here’s where things really heated up. If 0 was dull and predictable and 0.75 a bit more creative, where would Temp 1.5 land?
Well…
Concept Routes with Associated Straplines:
ROUTE 01 – BEAUTY IN MEASURE (“poetically engineered clarity”)
Concept approach advocating a subtle fusion between the rigid precision of AI-led solutions and expressive creativity influencing human audiences.
Reasoning:
– “Precision,” “detail,” and Robot-Meets-Relevance effect blend Technological clarity with poetics driven from machine-generated ideas and art.
– A visual and verbal clash of defined systematic creations meeting subjective forms of expression considered conventionally emotional.
Strapline series possibility:
– “Define your purpose, refine to poetry”
– “Invented clarity, envisioned beautifully”
– “Emotion defined, vision engineered—orchestra of one machine-mind.”
This headline would adapt/respond specifically if placed with a visual element– beautifully auto-generated creative outputs.
As you can see, it’s a bit like getting stuck at a party with a talkative professor who’s had too many drinks. There are a lot of long words in there, and a lot of high-concept ideas, but it’s all delivered in a stream of consciousness that leaves you scratching your head. (Although if you’re stuck for a band name you could do worse than the brilliant ‘orchestra of one machine-mind’)
And it’s not long before it all starts to go, well, wrong:
ROUTE 02 – HUMANISMS IN CODE (“emotion commands expression”)
About capturing distinctly human-created majesty extracted by intelligent machine code. An aspirational synergy in approaches transforming seemingly humane output waged purely computationally structured patterns intrinsically poetic/jarring crafted illustrations taxiing video sequences born engineered “rather-spliced”.
Strapline/offshoot phrasing possibilities thoughtfully layered specifically emotive cost-effect shaped funnel:
– “Heart driving strings. Conducted in code.”
– “Mechanical dreamers. Intentional expression.”
– “Computed feel, predicted awe. Every pixel contrives art-beneficial diplomacy broadcast optical tenderness respliced mechanically-intensive opportunity birth expressive logically chosen proliferation onto generated digital environs astonishing devoted audiences maintaining empathy-driven relays appropriately effectuated
And so on and so on. Like some terrible early-90s Japanese video game translated very badly into English. Indicating that if you start to slide the temperature far past 1, the AI model simply can’t cope and will sooner or later have a meltdown.
Conclusion: Interesting for its ‘far out’ freedom of thought and expression – and so could be good for answering really high-concept problems in the first part of an output – but for straightforward tasks it’s at best hard to follow, at worst totally bananas.
Temperature check
So while the results were more or less as to be expected, with low temperatures equalling solid but dull outputs and higher temperatures making for much more creative idea generation (if too mind-bending when they’re turned up too much), it’s worth considering what that means for your work.
If you’re engaged in a task that needs some real sideways thinking – a complicated logistical problem, say, or a very abstract strategy – it could be a good thing to crank up the temp. The same is true if you’re not happy with the outputs you’re getting from a particular AI model. Try toggling the dial – what you get back could take you by surprise (and we mean that in a good way).
While temperature might seem like just another complication in an already complicated AI-infused world – give it a try. It could make all the difference.
We can help with your AI outputs!
Get in touchWritten by Nick Banks, Senior Writer and Prompt Engineer at Definition
