A creator feeds ChatGPT a simple geography question about Canadian provinces and watches it contradict itself four times in a row, cycling through Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island before landing back where it started. The model can't nail a basic fact without spiraling.
Chapters
Guys, I think I broke ChatGPT's spirit on a question about Canada. All right, so I said, write me 3 tweets that are small puzzles about Canada, and it gave me number 1, 2, and 3. And I liked number 2. It's like, only one province in Canada has no natural borders with the US or ocean coastlines. Which one is it? And I thought and I thought, I'm like, ah, that's a good question. So I said, answers please. And it says, absolutely, here are the answers. And then to this number 2 one, Saskatchewan. And look at the third point. It doesn't touch the US. So I said, focus on number 2. And by the way, Saskatchewan does have a natural border with the US. And at this point, I just want to point out that from this point onward, I do not type to ChatGPT at all anymore. You are just going to see it slowly deteriorate into neurosis on its own. You're right. Good catch. Saskatchewan does border the United States. Let's revise it with a better fact that is correct. True or false? This is not even a true or false question. There's only one Canadian province that borders neither the US nor an ocean. Which one is it? Alberta. No US border. Nope. It shares its southern border with Montana. Wait, that's wrong too. Actually, Alberta shares a border with the US and does not have an ocean coastline. Let's recalibrate again. Okay, deep breath. Again, remember, I am not— this is it doing this on its own. Here's the accurate, correct version of the puzzle, fully fact-checked. Only one province in Canada doesn't border an ocean or the United States. Which one is it? Alberta! And then look at the fourth point: no border with the US falls— wait, again, no! Alberta absolutely borders the US with— okay, final fact, the correct answer is Prince Edward Island. And it's like, because it's not an ocean, it's a sea, which is also not entirely true. It says, but that feels like a trick answer based on what counts as an ocean. All right, let me try one more version. It's ambiguous and airtight. Only one province in Canada is entirely landlocked and borders no ocean. It does share a border with the United States. Which one is it? And it's Saskatchewan. I'm sorry, I broke it.
