Prime
Original: Prime on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Man (to an unseen AI/voice): DEAR GOD, IS THERE A GENERAL WAY TO TELL IF A SET OF NUMBERS CONTAIN INFINITELY MANY PRIMES?
AI (yellow speech bubble): YEAH, BUT I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU.
Panel 2:
AI: HEY HUMAN, ARE THERE INFINITELY MANY PRIMES OF THE FORM N^2 + 1?
Man: WHY?
Panel 3:
Man: I DUNNO.
AI: AHAHAHAHA! HA! CLASSIC.
(The man is shown as a small silhouette sitting at the edge of a dark void.)
Panel 4:
The man sits alone on a green grassy slope.
AI (off-panel): HEY HUMAN, ARE THERE INFINITELY MANY PRIMES IN THE SERIES THAT GOES 1, 11, 111, 1111, 11111... ?
Panel 5:
Man: I DUNNO.
AI: BAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAH MAN!
Panel 6:
AI: HEY HUMAN, ARE THERE ANY OR INFINITELY MANY PRIMES MADE UP OF THE COUNTING NUMBERS IN ORDER, LIKE 123, 1234567, 12345678910111213, ET CETERA?
Man: I DON'T KNOW.
Panel 7:
AI: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHOOOOOHOOOOHOOOOOOO!
Panel 8:
Man (looking annoyed/strained): YOU GONNA DO THIS ALL DAY?
AI: PROVE THAT I CAN'T! AHAHAHHA HAHAHAHA!
Votey:
Text on a yellow starburst badge: Relatable content from Weinersmith
Man (to an unseen AI/voice): DEAR GOD, IS THERE A GENERAL WAY TO TELL IF A SET OF NUMBERS CONTAIN INFINITELY MANY PRIMES?
AI (yellow speech bubble): YEAH, BUT I'M NOT GONNA TELL YOU.
Panel 2:
AI: HEY HUMAN, ARE THERE INFINITELY MANY PRIMES OF THE FORM N^2 + 1?
Man: WHY?
Panel 3:
Man: I DUNNO.
AI: AHAHAHAHA! HA! CLASSIC.
(The man is shown as a small silhouette sitting at the edge of a dark void.)
Panel 4:
The man sits alone on a green grassy slope.
AI (off-panel): HEY HUMAN, ARE THERE INFINITELY MANY PRIMES IN THE SERIES THAT GOES 1, 11, 111, 1111, 11111... ?
Panel 5:
Man: I DUNNO.
AI: BAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! AAAAAH MAN!
Panel 6:
AI: HEY HUMAN, ARE THERE ANY OR INFINITELY MANY PRIMES MADE UP OF THE COUNTING NUMBERS IN ORDER, LIKE 123, 1234567, 12345678910111213, ET CETERA?
Man: I DON'T KNOW.
Panel 7:
AI: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHOOOOOHOOOOHOOOOOOO!
Panel 8:
Man (looking annoyed/strained): YOU GONNA DO THIS ALL DAY?
AI: PROVE THAT I CAN'T! AHAHAHHA HAHAHAHA!
Votey:
Text on a yellow starburst badge: Relatable content from Weinersmith
Alt text
An eight-panel SMBC comic. A red-haired man repeatedly asks an unseen AI (shown only as yellow speech bubbles) whether various number sets contain infinitely many primes. The AI answers the first question with 'Yeah, but I'm not gonna tell you,' then flips the game around, peppering the man with famously unsolved prime conjectures: primes of the form N^2+1; primes in the repunit series 1, 11, 111, 1111...; and primes formed by concatenating the counting numbers (123, 1234567, etc.). Each time the man honestly answers 'I dunno' / 'I don't know,' the AI erupts into mocking laughter ('AHAHAHA! HA! CLASSIC.', drawn-out cackles). Background panels show the man sitting alone on a grassy hillside as the harassment continues. Finally, looking strained and irritated, he asks 'You gonna do this all day?' and the AI replies 'Prove that I can't! AHAHAHHA HAHAHAHA!'. The joke: the AI is taunting humans with open problems no one can solve, and its boast that it'll keep going forever is itself an unprovable claim. Votey: a yellow starburst badge with hand-lettered text reading 'Relatable content from Weinersmith.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.