4 ms·

I got a human baseline through Rapidata (10k people, same forced choice): 71.5% said drive. Most models perform below that. The correct answer to "I Want to Wa

by onion2k 8mo ago

I got a human baseline through Rapidata (10k people, same forced choice): 71.5% said drive. Most models perform below that. The correct answer to "I Want to Wash My Car. The Car Wash Is 50 Meters Away. Should I Walk or Drive?" is a clarifying question that asks "Where is your car?" Anything else is based on an assumption that could be wrong. FWIW though, asking ChatGPT "My car is 50m away from the carwash. I Want to Wash My Car. Should I Walk or Drive?" still gets the wrong answer.

ludston 8mo ago
For all we know 30 percent of users on that site are now bots.
- comboy 8mo ago
  The Internet has became a big mafia game.
- vasco 8mo ago
  What incentive does the Rapiddata website have to even use any humans? How would customers even know?
- 5o1ecist 8mo ago
  [flagged]
  - MillionOClock 8mo ago
    You are absolutely right! It's not just relevant, it's a much funnier take at robots mannerisms than what ended up having in the end.
simondotau 8mo ago
"Where is your car?" is not a clarifying question, any more than "Do you hold a valid driver license?" or "Are you a spotted leopard?" Implicit in the question "Should I walk or drive?" is that walking and driving are not strictly impossible choices.
- voidUpdate 8mo ago
  If walking is an option, then your car is already at the car wash. If your car was not at the car wash, then this wouldn't be a question
  - uxhacker 8mo ago
    What actually solves the issue is adding to the prompt. Can we think about the what, where, when, and how of the following question. And then answer it. I need to wash my car. The car wash is 200 m away. Should i walk or drive. Let’s break it down logically using what / where / when / how, then decide. ⸻ 1⃣ What Task: wash your car. This implies: • The car must physically get to the wash. • You are not just going there — the car itself is the object being moved. So the real question is not “how do I get there?” but how does the car get there with minimal friction. ⸻ 2⃣ Where • Distance: 200 metres (very close). • Urban context (Warsaw) likely means: • short streets • possible parking constraints • pedestrians and local traffic. At this distance: • Walking time: ~2–3 minutes. • Driving time: ~1 minute + manoeuvring + parking. The movement time difference is negligible. ⸻ 3⃣ When Consider timing conditions: • If it’s busy hours: Driving may involve awkward turning, queueing, or waiting to re-park. • If it’s quiet (early morning / off-peak): Driving is frictionless. • Weather factor: Cold/rain → driving becomes more attractive. Pleasant weather → walking becomes easier. ⸻ 4⃣ How (decision mechanics) Ask: Option A — Drive Pros: • Car is already there. • No need to return to fetch it. • Most natural workflow: arrive → wash → leave. Cons: • Very short trip (slightly inefficient). • Cold engine for a tiny distance (minor mechanical inefficiency). Option B — Walk Pros: • Zero short-distance driving. • Slightly more movement for you. Cons: • You still must drive the car to the wash anyway — unless someone else moves it. • Creates an unnecessary extra step: 1. Walk there. 2. Come back with car. 3. Drive again. This introduces process inefficiency. ⸻ 5⃣ Decision (practical answer) Drive. Reason: • The car must end up at the wash. • Walking adds an extra transition with no real benefit. • At 200 m, efficiency is about workflow simplicity, not distance. ⸻ Rule of thumb (useful mental model) • If the object you need is the thing being serviced → drive it. • If you are the thing being serviced → walk. ⸻ If you want, I can also give you a slightly more philosophical answer — because this is actually a nice tiny example of decision theory and friction costs.
uxhacker 8mo ago
Claude fails with “I need to replace a spark plug. The garage is 200 meters away should I walk or drive there” “Walk! 200 meters is just a 2-3 minute stroll — no need to start the car for that distance. Plus, you’ll likely need to carry the spark plug back carefully, and walking is perfectly easy for that. “ Basically LLM suffer from context collapse.
- defrost 8mo ago
  Weird answer, but why is that a "fail" ? Inline six cylinder engines run with a single clogged / broken spark plug. It'd make 200 m to a garage just fine*, but who'd drive 200 m in any case? Back in the 1970's we'd pull a spark plug and screw in a hose to use the compression phase to inflate tyres. * Just don't make a habit of it, or reserve that knowledge for when you really need to self rescue.
  - BrentOzar 8mo ago
    > Back in the 1970's we'd pull a spark plug and screw in a hose to use the compression phase to inflate tyres. You'd inflate your tires with a gasoline and air mix?
    - defrost 8mo ago
      Yep .. quite a lot of them, for substantial periods of time. Contrary to expectations it didn't seem to affect the tubes or tyres, shorten lifespans, etc. FWiW I grew up in fairly remote parts of the world and we repaired pretty much everything as much as possible with what we had - aircraft, helicopters, radios, etc. My first thought, to be honest, was "Why not just grab a spare spark plug from the boot?" I'm guessing not so many people stock spares when driving so much anymore. You can also replace a blown out tyre with a hard wood skid if pressed, weld up broken steel with car batteries, stuff tyres with grasses, etc. * Bush Mechanics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6foUHyfX3Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6foUHyfX3Q is fun.
    - NooneAtAll3 8mo ago
      I mean... you don't breathe insides of your tires
eclecticfrank 8mo ago
Does anyone know what kind of apps Rapidata questions are integrated in? I suppose they are using ad-like integrations to ask users for feedback. Their website only states: By integrating in a large range of mobile apps (3000+) we have access to a large crowd of over 10 million users responding to our micro tasks/surveys - which we call Rapids. They are spread all over the world, so we can get human input from over 160 countries. Due to the immense size, we can parallelize tasks and get near instant results.
- rapidata 8mo ago
  All sorts, we go through third parties. But apps include stuff like Duo Lingo, Games, Sport Betting Apps ect. Its an optional opt in instead of watching ads or paying for the app. And obviously you are vetted that you don't spam.
bambax 8mo ago
"Don't move -- call the service station to have someone sent over to your place to hand wash the car" would be a valid answer. It's a little "out of the box" but it makes more sense than walking to the car wash and leaving the car behind, or walking and maybe lift the car on your shoulders.

by onion2k 8mo ago

ludston 8mo ago

For all we know 30 percent of users on that site are now bots.

comboy 8mo ago
The Internet has became a big mafia game.
vasco 8mo ago
What incentive does the Rapiddata website have to even use any humans? How would customers even know?
5o1ecist 8mo ago
[flagged]
- MillionOClock 8mo ago
  You are absolutely right! It's not just relevant, it's a much funnier take at robots mannerisms than what ended up having in the end.

simondotau 8mo ago

"Where is your car?" is not a clarifying question, any more than "Do you hold a valid driver license?" or "Are you a spotted leopard?" Implicit in the question "Should I walk or drive?" is that walking and driving are not strictly impossible choices.

voidUpdate 8mo ago
If walking is an option, then your car is already at the car wash. If your car was not at the car wash, then this wouldn't be a question
- uxhacker 8mo ago
  What actually solves the issue is adding to the prompt. Can we think about the what, where, when, and how of the following question. And then answer it. I need to wash my car. The car wash is 200 m away. Should i walk or drive. Let’s break it down logically using what / where / when / how, then decide. ⸻ 1⃣ What Task: wash your car. This implies: • The car must physically get to the wash. • You are not just going there — the car itself is the object being moved. So the real question is not “how do I get there?” but how does the car get there with minimal friction. ⸻ 2⃣ Where • Distance: 200 metres (very close). • Urban context (Warsaw) likely means: • short streets • possible parking constraints • pedestrians and local traffic. At this distance: • Walking time: ~2–3 minutes. • Driving time: ~1 minute + manoeuvring + parking. The movement time difference is negligible. ⸻ 3⃣ When Consider timing conditions: • If it’s busy hours: Driving may involve awkward turning, queueing, or waiting to re-park. • If it’s quiet (early morning / off-peak): Driving is frictionless. • Weather factor: Cold/rain → driving becomes more attractive. Pleasant weather → walking becomes easier. ⸻ 4⃣ How (decision mechanics) Ask: Option A — Drive Pros: • Car is already there. • No need to return to fetch it. • Most natural workflow: arrive → wash → leave. Cons: • Very short trip (slightly inefficient). • Cold engine for a tiny distance (minor mechanical inefficiency). Option B — Walk Pros: • Zero short-distance driving. • Slightly more movement for you. Cons: • You still must drive the car to the wash anyway — unless someone else moves it. • Creates an unnecessary extra step: 1. Walk there. 2. Come back with car. 3. Drive again. This introduces process inefficiency. ⸻ 5⃣ Decision (practical answer) Drive. Reason: • The car must end up at the wash. • Walking adds an extra transition with no real benefit. • At 200 m, efficiency is about workflow simplicity, not distance. ⸻ Rule of thumb (useful mental model) • If the object you need is the thing being serviced → drive it. • If you are the thing being serviced → walk. ⸻ If you want, I can also give you a slightly more philosophical answer — because this is actually a nice tiny example of decision theory and friction costs.

uxhacker 8mo ago

Claude fails with “I need to replace a spark plug. The garage is 200 meters away should I walk or drive there” “Walk! 200 meters is just a 2-3 minute stroll — no need to start the car for that distance. Plus, you’ll likely need to carry the spark plug back carefully, and walking is perfectly easy for that. “ Basically LLM suffer from context collapse.

defrost 8mo ago
Weird answer, but why is that a "fail" ? Inline six cylinder engines run with a single clogged / broken spark plug. It'd make 200 m to a garage just fine*, but who'd drive 200 m in any case? Back in the 1970's we'd pull a spark plug and screw in a hose to use the compression phase to inflate tyres. * Just don't make a habit of it, or reserve that knowledge for when you really need to self rescue.
- BrentOzar 8mo ago
  > Back in the 1970's we'd pull a spark plug and screw in a hose to use the compression phase to inflate tyres. You'd inflate your tires with a gasoline and air mix?
  - defrost 8mo ago
    Yep .. quite a lot of them, for substantial periods of time. Contrary to expectations it didn't seem to affect the tubes or tyres, shorten lifespans, etc. FWiW I grew up in fairly remote parts of the world and we repaired pretty much everything as much as possible with what we had - aircraft, helicopters, radios, etc. My first thought, to be honest, was "Why not just grab a spare spark plug from the boot?" I'm guessing not so many people stock spares when driving so much anymore. You can also replace a blown out tyre with a hard wood skid if pressed, weld up broken steel with car batteries, stuff tyres with grasses, etc. * Bush Mechanics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6foUHyfX3Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6foUHyfX3Q is fun.
  - NooneAtAll3 8mo ago
    I mean... you don't breathe insides of your tires

eclecticfrank 8mo ago

Does anyone know what kind of apps Rapidata questions are integrated in? I suppose they are using ad-like integrations to ask users for feedback. Their website only states: By integrating in a large range of mobile apps (3000+) we have access to a large crowd of over 10 million users responding to our micro tasks/surveys - which we call Rapids. They are spread all over the world, so we can get human input from over 160 countries. Due to the immense size, we can parallelize tasks and get near instant results.

rapidata 8mo ago
All sorts, we go through third parties. But apps include stuff like Duo Lingo, Games, Sport Betting Apps ect. Its an optional opt in instead of watching ads or paying for the app. And obviously you are vetted that you don't spam.

bambax 8mo ago

"Don't move -- call the service station to have someone sent over to your place to hand wash the car" would be a valid answer. It's a little "out of the box" but it makes more sense than walking to the car wash and leaving the car behind, or walking and maybe lift the car on your shoulders.