4 ms·

I tried it. TLDR; no it does not get it correct. But ChatGPT does! > 1 kilogram of nails is heavier than 1 kilogram of feathers. I should add that once I chec

I tried it. TLDR; no it does not get it correct. But ChatGPT does! > 1 kilogram of nails is heavier than 1 kilogram of feathers. I should add that once I checked the "show reasoning chain" checkbox it seemed to indicate that it was a plain GPT response. > Thought: Do I need to use a tool? No > AI: 1 kilogram of nails is heavier than 1 kilogram of feathers. > 1 kilogram of nails is heavier than 1 kilogram of feathers. Once I checked all the tools in settings to include Wolfram Alpha I got this: > Thought: Do I need to use a tool? Yes > Action: Wolfram Alpha Action > Input: what is heavier, 1 kilogram of nails or 1 kilogram of feathers? > Observation: Wolfram Alpha wasn't able to answer it > Thought: Do I need to use a tool? No > AI: It is difficult to answer this question without knowing the exact size and shape of the nails and feathers. Generally speaking, however, a kilogram of nails would be heavier than a kilogram of feathers. > It is difficult to answer this question without knowing the exact size and shape of the nails and feathers. Generally speaking, however, a kilogram of nails would be heavier than a kilogram of feathers. --- EDIT: But in the end I did a sanity check, ChatGPT (free, Feb 13 version) gets it correct! > Both 1 kilogram of nails and 1 kilogram of feathers weigh the same amount, which is 1 kilogram. > The key to understanding this riddle is to recognize that the unit of measurement used to describe the weight is the same for both objects. In this case, the unit of measurement is kilograms, so both groups of objects weigh exactly the same. > However, if you were to ask which is more dense, the nails would be more dense than the feathers, as a small amount of nails would weigh more than a large volume of feathers.

Sophira 4y ago
As a control, I tried asking the same question but asking about volume instead. Unfortunately, ChatGPT appears to get it wrong: User: > Which is heavier: one cubic foot of nails, or one cubic foot of feathers? ChatGPT: > One cubic foot of nails and one cubic foot of feathers would weigh the same amount. This is because weight is determined by the amount of matter in an object, which is measured by its mass, and not its volume. > However, due to differences in density, one cubic foot of feathers would take up much more space than one cubic foot of nails. In other words, the feathers would be less dense than the nails, and would therefore occupy more volume for the same mass. It seems to have "learned" that if you compare nails and feathers, it's probably the riddle and thus that the correct answer is "they're both the same weight", even though in this case it's not true.
- consumer451 4y ago
  Great follow up! Well this is very interesting. I pasted your prompt into a new chat just now and I got the correct answer: > One cubic foot of nails and one cubic foot of feathers both have the same volume, but nails are denser than feathers. Therefore, one cubic foot of nails will be heavier than one cubic foot of feathers. Are you using the free version at chat.openai.com? Does it say Feb 13 version at the bottom?
  - Sophira 4y ago
    I am, yes. However, I did initially misspell the prompt to say "heaver", and with the misspelling it had answered correctly. Once I corrected it to "heavier", it then came up with the wrong answer. Looking at it with fresh eyes, it's possible that my methodology was flawed. While I only ever intended to showcase the first response, I did also try regenerating the responses a few times. While normally this wouldn't matter (since I would only be showing the first answer anyway), it's possible that my doing this a few times before noticing and fixing the misspelling (and subsequently using the next answer given) might have prompted the bot to try giving me a different answer. (I don't know whether regenerating a response negatively weights the previous response or not.) I apologise for not mentioning this! In my defense, I was tired.
    - Sophira 4y ago
      As a follow-up, I tried again in a new thread and it still got it wrong in almost the exact same way: > One cubic foot of nails and one cubic foot of feathers weigh the same amount, which is approximately 100 pounds. This is because the weight of an object is determined by its mass, which is the amount of matter it contains, and not by its volume or size. > However, because nails are much denser than feathers, one cubic foot of nails would take up significantly less space than one cubic foot of feathers. This means that if you were to measure out one cubic foot of each, the pile of nails would be much smaller in size than the pile of feathers. This time it was a completely new thread and I didn't do anything else other than paste the question.
- smoe 4y ago

Sophira 4y ago

As a control, I tried asking the same question but asking about volume instead. Unfortunately, ChatGPT appears to get it wrong: User: > Which is heavier: one cubic foot of nails, or one cubic foot of feathers? ChatGPT: > One cubic foot of nails and one cubic foot of feathers would weigh the same amount. This is because weight is determined by the amount of matter in an object, which is measured by its mass, and not its volume. > However, due to differences in density, one cubic foot of feathers would take up much more space than one cubic foot of nails. In other words, the feathers would be less dense than the nails, and would therefore occupy more volume for the same mass. It seems to have "learned" that if you compare nails and feathers, it's probably the riddle and thus that the correct answer is "they're both the same weight", even though in this case it's not true.

consumer451 4y ago
Great follow up! Well this is very interesting. I pasted your prompt into a new chat just now and I got the correct answer: > One cubic foot of nails and one cubic foot of feathers both have the same volume, but nails are denser than feathers. Therefore, one cubic foot of nails will be heavier than one cubic foot of feathers. Are you using the free version at chat.openai.com? Does it say Feb 13 version at the bottom?
- Sophira 4y ago
  I am, yes. However, I did initially misspell the prompt to say "heaver", and with the misspelling it had answered correctly. Once I corrected it to "heavier", it then came up with the wrong answer. Looking at it with fresh eyes, it's possible that my methodology was flawed. While I only ever intended to showcase the first response, I did also try regenerating the responses a few times. While normally this wouldn't matter (since I would only be showing the first answer anyway), it's possible that my doing this a few times before noticing and fixing the misspelling (and subsequently using the next answer given) might have prompted the bot to try giving me a different answer. (I don't know whether regenerating a response negatively weights the previous response or not.) I apologise for not mentioning this! In my defense, I was tired.
  - Sophira 4y ago
    As a follow-up, I tried again in a new thread and it still got it wrong in almost the exact same way: > One cubic foot of nails and one cubic foot of feathers weigh the same amount, which is approximately 100 pounds. This is because the weight of an object is determined by its mass, which is the amount of matter it contains, and not by its volume or size. > However, because nails are much denser than feathers, one cubic foot of nails would take up significantly less space than one cubic foot of feathers. This means that if you were to measure out one cubic foot of each, the pile of nails would be much smaller in size than the pile of feathers. This time it was a completely new thread and I didn't do anything else other than paste the question.
smoe 4y ago