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How many legs do ten elephants have, if two of them are legless? (bard.google.com)
submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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[–] [email protected] 26 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (5 children)

I was trying to trigger the same output from Bard, and it answered correctly; they probably addressed that very specific case after it got some attention. Then of course I started messing around, first replacing "elephants" with "snakes" and then with "potatoes". And here's the outcome of the third prompt:

My sides went into orbit. The worst issue isn't even claiming that snakes aren't animals (contradicting the output of the second prompt, by the way), but the insane troll logic that Bard shows when it comes to hypothetical scenarios. In an imaginative scenario where potatoes have legs, the concept of "legless" does apply to them, because they would have legs to lose.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Just went into a coughing fit from this, its so laughable. So are snakes just not in the animal kingdom at all?? I bet they are in the same class as viruses.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

So are snakes just not in the animal kingdom at all??

Of course they aren't! Snakes, fish, slugs, they're all moving fungi. (On another matter, each spider is 2x more of an animal than your typical mammal. 4x than birds and us.) /s

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How many legs could a legless potato have if a potato could be legless?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

[I'll answer this seriously but dunno if you're being serious or just playing along the ridiculous setting.]

In this scenario, the matter here would be the other potatoes. Because, once you say that two of the four potatoes are legless, you're implying that the other two have legs; as such, the sum of the legs of all four potatoes would not be zero.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Lol, sorry. I just meant that to be confusing to artificial intelligence. I didn't mean to bother your actual intelligence. But good answer.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You didn't bother me at all, don't worry. I was just worried about spoiling a potential joke that I didn't get.

And you know what, I asked Bard the question. Here's the output:

That's a fun thought experiment! Since potatoes are not biological organisms, they don't have the capacity for legs in the first place. So, if we enter the realm of hypotheticals, the number of legs a legless potato could have becomes entirely up to our imagination.

Here are some options to consider:

  • Zero: This is the most straightforward answer, sticking to the literal meaning of "legless." Even in a hypothetical scenario, a potato without legs would still have, well, no legs.
  • One: Maybe the potato has a single sprout that acts as a multifunctional limb, allowing it to hop, roll, or reach for nutrients.
  • Two: Perhaps the potato has two root tendrils that it uses to navigate and stabilize itself.
  • Infinite: Why not get whimsical? Imagine a potato covered in a multitude of tiny, spider-like legs, allowing it to scurry across the ground.

Ultimately, the number of legs your legless potato has depends on your creativity! There are no wrong answers in this thought experiment, so have fun and explore the possibilities.

Who knows, maybe your imaginative potato with its unique number of legs could become the star of a quirky children's book or a surreal art piece!

A+ for effort, Bard. F for understanding.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

It did better than I thought it would considering how poorly in worked on your original. I was trying to add confusion but I think it cleared it up.

Yeah, "potential joke" is good way to categorize my reply. Just being whimsical with what the chat bot wrote.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

I corrected it (incorrectly) and it did slightly better. Then I corrected it again and it decided 10 elephants with proper leg counts should be 32.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Potatoes, not being biological, are therefore mineral. This concludes today's lesson.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Uhhhh can I get a boneless pizza