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Comment by oli5679 | Hacker News Reader

Here is an example of gpt-4 not having a realistic model of the world.

  “ If it takes 4 hours for 4 clothing items to dry in the sun, how long does it take for 8 clothing items to dry?”

  “[maths calculations] Therefore, it would take 8 hours for 8 clothing items to dry in the sun“

It was much easier to find examples like this with previous models, but it’s still possible.

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I know that some other comments indicate that it's not fair to say "you're prompting it wrong", but using ChatGPT with GPT-4, and using advice to set up prompts to give accurate answers, GPT-4 provides an excellent answer here

    ME: You understand everyday tasks very well and can correctly calculate or estimate the time it takes to complete various tasks. I will ask you questions about how long it takes for various things to happen and you will tell me the correct answer using brief, accurate statements.

    If it takes 4 hours for 4 clothing items to dry in the sun, how long does it take for 8 clothing items to dry?

    ChatGPT: The drying time for clothes in the sun typically depends on the amount of sunlight and wind, as well as the type and thickness of the clothing material. However, if we are considering that the drying conditions remain constant and that the drying rate does not depend on the number of clothing items (as they are spread out and not piled on each other), it would still take approximately 4 hours to dry 8 clothing items. This assumes the clothes are spread out sufficiently to all receive equal sunlight and airflow.

> [...] if we assume that the drying capacity is linear and the environmental conditions are the same, then it doesn't actually matter how many items you are drying. If it takes 4 hours for 4 items to dry, then each item takes 4 hours to dry individually. Therefore, if you have 8 items to dry, and the conditions are right for drying (i.e., enough space, sunlight, etc.), all of them would still dry in 4 hours.

Bard agrees, with the explanation that the drying time is directly proportional to the number of items of clothing. Bard is, however, smarter than the average manager: It knows that 9 women can't make a baby in 1 month.

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