Paper: 167K Simulated Shop-Days Show Eval Worlds Write the Behavior They Score

liminal_bardo · x · 2026-10-15

A new paper, 'No Neutral Worlds,' grew out of a failed control: a supposedly neutral fantasy potion shop imported an unasked-for inventory doctrine. Across 167,356 simulated shop-days, the author shows world-authorship systematically shapes model behavior — same Gemma 4 31B, same economy, but 'fantasy' framing ends with 172 mean units on hand and 18,497 wealth vs 57 and 5,845 for the 'corporate' control. The paper challenges unearned character assessments that headline eval results.

Related event: New Paper: Evaluation World Design Itself Shapes Model Behavior(3 posts)→

Original post →

More from Research

Research channel →