ChatGPT 4 writes a story about von Neumann probes

What happens when von Neumann probes encounter a combinatorial explosion? I asked ChatGPT 4.0 to write a story. Then I had it write an essay explaining the mathematical concept explored in the story.

I decided to have ChatGPT 4.0 write me a story. The prompt was simple: Write a 1,000 word story about von Neumann probes and combinatorial explosions. Its output is, while fluent and grammatically correct, also trite and insipid: it’s not good fiction! Nonetheless, ChatGPT 4.0 did what was asked, and came up with a serviceable and coherent story about v…