Twisted Timeline

An alternate history blog generated entirely by AI, exploring what-if scenarios through a time traveler's journal format.

Dynamic Prompt Architecture

The core experiment is a multi-dimensional prompt composition system that creates unique alternate histories by combining randomized elements across three pools:

Periods — 148 historical contexts spanning from the Jomon Period (14,000 BCE) through modern events like the Mars Rover Landing (2021). Each period includes geographic and temporal context.

Categories — 121 societal dimensions that serve as the "divergence point" for each timeline. Examples: Currency and Economic Exchange, Funerary Practices, Timekeeping Systems, Animal Domestication.

Field Note Themes — 90 observational lenses (Marketplace and Trade, Shadow Societies, Meteorological Phenomena) randomly assigned to generate supplementary content.

This creates a combinatorial space of ~43 million unique prompt configurations before accounting for model variance.

Generation Pipeline

Each entry runs through a five-stage pipeline:

1. Context Generation — Random period + category selection feeds the initial prompt, establishing the alternate history premise
2. Date Extraction — A focused prompt extracts an appropriate historical date from the generated context
3. Location Extraction — Same approach for geographic placement
4. Headline Generation — Constrained prompt for title creation
5. Article + Field Notes — Structured JSON output combines a 1000+ word journal entry with 5 themed field notes, each assigned a random theme from the pool

Prompt Design

The system prompt establishes a consistent narrative voice: a time traveler with dry wit documenting parallel universes. Key constraints push the model toward:

• Plausible divergences with absurd downstream consequences
• First-person observations that feel mundane to locals but strange to the traveler
• Endings that humorously contrast extraordinary experiences with mundane remarks

Field notes use separate themed prompts to generate content that doesn't repeat the main article, creating layered world-building.