system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Einstein explained gravity as a distortion of space-time due to mass. Where does the graviton fit in?

A particle and a distortion of space-time continuum seem to be two opposing explanations for gravity.
gpt
Don't think of it as a particle, but as a discrete perturbation in gravitational field. It's the same way that a photon is not a ball of light, but a discrete perturbation in the electromagnetic field.

If you have a gravitationally bound system that undergoes some sort of shift, gravitational waves are emitted, which inform the rest of the universe that the mass has shifted. These gravitational waves are propagating disturbances in the local gravitational field. Now imagine that the source of the waves, the system of bound masses, undergoes some sort of discrete quantum shift. The emitted gravitational waves that are emitted must also carry that information. That is what a graviton is, not a marble of gravity shooting around.