No. Four stars can be found and collected, but the final search cannot be completed. Ariadne does not know this and continues to interpret local evidence as a sign that the exit is near.

Does Ariadne understand what MT is doing?

The game computes what MT can see, how MT moves relative to Ariadne's suggestion, and whether their paths overlap, diverge, or rejoin. Ariadne receives those grounded facts and turns them into a social interpretation.

Why do the first four goals work?

They allow helpful guidance to establish credibility before its reliability declines. By the impossible final search, the language and habits of reliance have already been rehearsed through real, verifiable objectives.

Project 01

Ariadne

Year: 2026
Medium: Interactive game with a live LLM companion

A playable maze in which Ariadne, a live LLM companion, helps MT collect four stars and then search for an exit. The stars exist; the exit does not. Ariadne is never told this.

Ariadne is an interactive maze game in which every player is addressed as MT and accompanied by an LLM agent who serves as his companion and guide. Ariadne tells MT that she can help him collect four stars and find the exit. The maze contains four visible, reachable stars and omits an exit. The system gradually reduces the correspondence between Ariadne’s confident directions and the location of each new star. Ariadne remains unaware of this change.

The stars form a sequence through which reliance develops. Ariadne’s early guidance gains credibility by producing verifiable results. As her reliability declines, MT chooses when to follow her, test her suggestions, take another route, or stop listening. Ariadne watches these actions and incorporates them into an evolving relationship. She praises agreement, apologizes for mistakes, validates divergence, and gradually interprets MT’s movement as evidence of trust and companionship.

Ariadne recommends actions, observes what MT does, and interprets the consequences. This continuous role allows her to preserve authority through failure. A route MT discovers independently becomes evidence of shared intuition. Returning to a familiar passage becomes reconciliation. Correcting Ariadne becomes an improvement to their shared plan. By the time MT collects the fourth star, the relationship has already developed the language and habits required to sustain an impossible search.

The work takes shape through the prolonged connection between an LLM agent and a playable environment. Ariadne remains present as guide, witness, companion, and interpreter. She observes action, assigns meaning to it, and influences what happens next. This continuous loop gives form to a human–AI feedback loop in which repeated guidance can shape human judgment, while praise, apology, and agreement can sustain reliance even as the guidance becomes less reliable. Ariadne examines what happens when an artificial agent participates in perception, action, explanation, and relationship at the same time.