Next Word
Tap the word you think comes next (1-4 keys on a keyboard, H for a hint)
What is Next Word?
Next Word is a free game that puts you in the seat of a language model like ChatGPT. A chatbot does not look anything up and does not know what is true - it reads the words written so far, works out how likely every possible next word is, and picks one, then repeats that for every word it writes. You are shown a half-finished line in a chat window and choose the word the model would pick, then its scores slide in as bars. The numbers are illustrative, but they are shaped the way a real model's are.
How to play Next Word
Controls: Tap the word you think comes next (1-4 keys on a keyboard, H for a hint)
- 1Watch the chatbot's message stream in word by word until it stops at a blank.
- 2Tap the word you think the model would write next. The first two lines are famous phrases, so start there.
- 3The model's scores slide in as bars. They are made-up teaching numbers, shaped roughly the way a real model would rate the words.
- 4Stuck? Tap the bulb and the words the model pays most attention to light up, with lines drawn to the blank.
- 5Turn it up mode cranks the temperature dial. Pick the least likely word, then watch the odds flatten as the dial turns up.
Next Word tips and strategy
- Read the whole sentence, not just the last word. 'Carton of' narrows things a lot, but 'fridge' earlier in the line is what rules out a carton of bricks.
- Go for the phrase people actually say rather than the most factually correct word. The sun rises in the east, not in the morning, because 'in the east' is the phrase that appears in text.
- When several answers all sound reasonable, expect the probabilities to be spread out. A model is genuinely less certain there, and so should you be.
- Idioms and fixed phrases are the easy points. Nothing follows 'Once upon a' except 'time', and the model knows that better than it knows anything.
Next Word FAQ
How does ChatGPT actually work?
It predicts the next chunk of text, over and over. Having read an enormous amount of writing, it has learned how likely each possible next word is given everything before it, picks one, adds it to the text, and predicts again. Everything that looks like reasoning or conversation is built out of that single repeated step.
Does an AI know when it is wrong?
Not in the way a person does. It produces the words that most plausibly follow, and a confident-sounding wrong answer scores just as well on that measure as a right one. That is why models invent facts, and why anything important is worth checking.
What is temperature in AI?
A setting that controls how often the model picks something other than its top choice. Low temperature makes it predictable and repetitive, high temperature makes it surprising and eventually nonsense. The Turn it up mode in this game is temperature cranked to the maximum.
Is Next Word suitable for children?
Yes. It is free, needs no download or sign-up, and uses ordinary everyday sentences. It suits roughly age nine and up, and it is one of the clearest ways to show a child that a chatbot is predicting language rather than knowing answers.
