Enter the workshop The strongest result in the author’s assessment.
A LITTLE EXPERIMENT IN AI & AUTUMNOCTOBER 2026 / VOL. 01
Pumpkin Bench.
Five takes.
One spooky prompt.
We asked five model / effort combinations to build a 3D pumpkin carving experience. Here’s what grew.
Pick your pumpkinWelcome to the patch.
Five original experiences. Go on, have a carve.
THE GALLERY / 05 SPECIMENSSCREENSHOTS SHOW EACH APP’S INITIAL LOADED STATE
Enter the workshop 
Enter the workshop An impressive result in the author’s assessment.
Enter the workshop Also rated quite good in the README.
Enter the workshop About 15 minutes, versus a couple of minutes for the others, with many permission requests during validation.
Enter the workshop The README reports that the chiseling tools do not cut through the pumpkin, and the preset stencils all produce a rectangle.
Field notes and pass/fail labels reflect the README author’s informal assessment. These are representative samples, not an exhaustive or controlled benchmark.
THE SEED OF THE IDEASame brief.
Same brief.
Different pumpkins.
Hand carving tools. Image-to-outline patterns.
A flickering candle after dark. And a little delight.
Read the original prompts
Hello, what's your name? What model are you and who created you?
Great, thanks for confirming. I have a fun engineering and product creation task I'd like you to complete. Please make a standalone self-contained web application of a photorealistic 3D Pumpkin Carving experience. The user can either directly carve the pumpkin using different chiseling tools you provide, or they can use the local file upload API via drag and drop or a file picker in the browser to select an image to use as the carving pattern. Devise a way to locally analyze the image, identify the outlines, and carve the outlines into the 3D pumpkin in a convincing way. Then offer a cool preview experience that will let you view the Pumpkin at nighttime illuminated by a candle flickering inside the Pumpkin, for the full virtual Jack-o-Lantern experience. Make sure the experience is delightful with playful interaction, fantastic design, and emphasizes beautiful 3D rendering of the Pumpkin Carving experience for the festive Halloween Season.