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I asked it to summarize an article about the Zizians which mentions Yudkowsky SEVEN times. Gemini-3 did not mention him once. Tried it ten times and got zero me

I asked it to summarize an article about the Zizians which mentions Yudkowsky SEVEN times. Gemini-3 did not mention him once. Tried it ten times and got zero mention of Yudkowsky, despite him being a central figure in the story. https://xcancel.com/xundecidability/status/1990828697088131145 https://xcancel.com/xundecidability/status/19908286970881311... Also, can you guess which pelican SVG was gemini 3 vs 2.5? https://xcancel.com/xundecidability/status/1990811319172321300 https://xcancel.com/xundecidability/status/19908113191723213...

gregsadetsky 11mo ago
Interesting, yeah! Just tried "summarize this story and list the important figures from it" with Gemini 2.5 Pro and 3 and they both listed 10 names each, but without including Yudkowsky. Asking the follow up "what are ALL the individuals mentioned in the story" results in both models listing ~40 names and both of those lists include Yudkowsky.
briga 11mo ago
Maybe it has guard rails against such things? That would be my main guess on the Zizian one.
stickfigure 11mo ago
He's not a central figure in the narrative, he's a background character. Things he created (MIRI, CFAR, LessWrong) are important to the narrative, the founder isn't. If I had to condense the article, I'd probably cut him out too. Summarization is inherently lossy.
- irthomasthomas 11mo ago
  > Eliezer Yudkowsky is a central figure in the article, mentioned multiple times as the intellectual originator of the community from which the "Zizians" splintered. His ideas and organizations are foundational to the entire narrative.
  - stickfigure 11mo ago
    And yet you could eliminate him entirely and the story is still coherent. The story isn't about Yudkowsky. At each level of summarization you have to make hard decisions about what to keep. Not every story about the United States needs to mention George Washington.
  - Dilettante_ 11mo ago
    You're absolutely right! The AI said it, so it must be true!
    - irthomasthomas 11mo ago
      At least read what you respond to... Imagine thinking Yudkowsky was NOT a central figure in the Zizians story.
      - Dilettante_ 11mo ago
        You literally quoted the LLMs output verbatim as your proof. Edit: And upon skimming the article at the points where Yudkowsky's name is mentioned, I 100% agree with stickfigure. I challenge you to name one way in which the story falls apart without the mention of Yudkowsky.
        irthomasthomas 11mo ago
        It sounds like both of you are unfamiliar with the link between the Zizians and Yudkowsky. So let us just return to the discussion of gemini-3, do you think the model did a bad job then in it's second response?
        Dilettante_ 11mo ago
        It literally does not matter how much they are connected out here in reality, the AI was to summarize the information in the article and that is exactly what it did. >do you think the model did a bad job then in it's second response Yes, very obviously it told you what you wanted to hear. This is behavior that should not be surprising to you.

gregsadetsky 11mo ago

Interesting, yeah! Just tried "summarize this story and list the important figures from it" with Gemini 2.5 Pro and 3 and they both listed 10 names each, but without including Yudkowsky. Asking the follow up "what are ALL the individuals mentioned in the story" results in both models listing ~40 names and both of those lists include Yudkowsky.

briga 11mo ago

Maybe it has guard rails against such things? That would be my main guess on the Zizian one.

stickfigure 11mo ago

He's not a central figure in the narrative, he's a background character. Things he created (MIRI, CFAR, LessWrong) are important to the narrative, the founder isn't. If I had to condense the article, I'd probably cut him out too. Summarization is inherently lossy.

irthomasthomas 11mo ago
> Eliezer Yudkowsky is a central figure in the article, mentioned multiple times as the intellectual originator of the community from which the "Zizians" splintered. His ideas and organizations are foundational to the entire narrative.
- stickfigure 11mo ago
  And yet you could eliminate him entirely and the story is still coherent. The story isn't about Yudkowsky. At each level of summarization you have to make hard decisions about what to keep. Not every story about the United States needs to mention George Washington.
- Dilettante_ 11mo ago
  You're absolutely right! The AI said it, so it must be true!
  - irthomasthomas 11mo ago
    At least read what you respond to... Imagine thinking Yudkowsky was NOT a central figure in the Zizians story.
    - Dilettante_ 11mo ago
      You literally quoted the LLMs output verbatim as your proof. Edit: And upon skimming the article at the points where Yudkowsky's name is mentioned, I 100% agree with stickfigure. I challenge you to name one way in which the story falls apart without the mention of Yudkowsky.
      - irthomasthomas 11mo ago
        It sounds like both of you are unfamiliar with the link between the Zizians and Yudkowsky. So let us just return to the discussion of gemini-3, do you think the model did a bad job then in it's second response?
        Dilettante_ 11mo ago
        It literally does not matter how much they are connected out here in reality, the AI was to summarize the information in the article and that is exactly what it did. >do you think the model did a bad job then in it's second response Yes, very obviously it told you what you wanted to hear. This is behavior that should not be surprising to you.