Google Doesn't Parse Roman Numerals | Hacker News Reader

Google Doesn't Parse Roman Numerals

google.com

29 pointspkdpic11 comments

Yes it does.

First result: "Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster is being pushed into 2022 for additional polishing" (with "Final Fantasy 6" in bold).

Compare: https://www.google.com/search?q=ff+iv+remaster+date which has the first result: "FF4 is releasing a couple of weeks after its expected August 19 date", with "FF4" in bold.

Maybe it's not "parsing" the numerals exactly, but whatever AI system they're using (probably MUM[1] now) clearly understands what "vi" and "iv" mean.

[1]: https://blog.google/products/search/how-ai-powers-great-sear...

To be fair, ... is there actually any utility to roman numerals? I'd be pretty cool with just calling it FF6

It's mixed. The results do talk about FF6, but the snippet and right sidebar don't.[0]

[0] https://www.dropbox.com/s/lth7xsjgx2bymqe/ff6.png?dl=0

'final fantasy vi remaster date' is probably a better search to make the point.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ff+vi+remaster+date

Interestingly, "ff 6 remaster date" gives the same results (for ff 2), but "ff six remaster date" works and returns results for ff 6.

The title and example is are dumb.

Type in “vi to number”.

The issue is the specific example, which still ultimately gives you the info in the first result.

Even if you type in ff 6 you get the same result

So why do I have to learn it on leetcode to work at google?

They're still looking for someone who can implement it!

Now that question makes so much more sense.

I bet today's interviews ask candidates to find quoted instances of strings in a query, and find exact matches in search text. Really groundbreaking stuff.

I love the idea of interpreting every FAANG coding question this way. ie "Oh that's cool, you guys are having trouble duping a linked list with random pointers in your code base. I can totally do that for you. Good thing I memorized this on leetcode the other day."

I came here for this. The one place where this might actually be a useful real world exercise, and yet, apparently not.

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